Real Salt Lake finished the regular season in third place, earning a home match in the first round against sixth-place Portland Timbers. Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match:
1. Real finished the regular season nearly two weeks ago with a 0-1 road win in Vancouver. The win was the first at BC Place since 2013. Damir Kreilach netted his sixth goal of the season, adding to his five assists while Nick Rimando made five saves to keep the clean sheet.
Albert Rusnak leads the team with ten goals and five assists, Sam Johnson has nine goals, Jefferson Savarino has eight goals and five assists, and Corey Baird has five goals and four assists. Rusnak, Savarino, Baird, Johnson, and Douglas Martinez all reported to their respective national teams following the match in Vancouver and returned to the club this week.
2. Real Salt Lake finished the season with a record of 16-13-5 and 53 points, landing the club in third, their highest finish since 2014. RSL went 0-2-0 against Portland this season with a 1-2 home loss and 1-0 road loss to the Timbers. In fact, RSL hasn’t beat the Timbers since 2017 and has a record of 7-9-7 all-time.
3. Portland Timbers finished their season with a 3-1 home win against San Jose Earthquakes, ending their season with a record of 14-13-7 and 49 points. Larrys Mabiala, Dairon Asprilla, and Sebastian Blanco all scored in the season finale. Jeremy Ebobisse and Brian Fernandez lead the Timbers with eleven goals and one assist, Diego Valeri has eight goals and sixteen assists, Blanco has six goals and eleven assists, and Cristhian Paredes has four goals and two assists. Portland is the reigning Western Conference Champions.
Our coverage of Real Salt Lake vs Portland Timbers begins on Saturday, October 19 at 7 PM on 101.5 and 105.5 The Eagle
