SANDY — Over the past three seasons, Real Salt Lake made the playoffs by two points, missed it by one point and then made it by one point.
For a team that’s flirted regularly with the postseason in recent years, it should come as no surprise that heading into the dog days of summer RSL is once again hovering near playoff line.
Heading into Saturday’s game at San Jose (8:30 p.m., KMYU), RSL occupies the seventh and final playoff spot in the Western Conference just one point ahead of San Jose.
Their close proximity in the standings — which seems likely to continue until the end of the regular season in October — adds to the importance of this weekend’s match.
RSL’s players have mentioned multiple times this season their desire to avoid having their playoff fate up in the air the final weekend of the regular season. Getting a result at San Jose will go a long way toward achieving that.
It will likely require the same type of grit RSL displayed in Wednesday’s win over Columbus at Rio Tinto Stadium.
RSL didn’t play well against the Crew, but still found a way to grind out the result.
“I don’t think we played our best game tactically and in possession of the ball, but sometimes in MLS you’ve just got to grind out results and we got a good goal from Sam in the first half and we were able to hang onto that 1-0 lead,” said defender Brooks Lennon.
That same type of grind-it-out mentality is how RSL needs to be approaching road games. Getting points on the road is tough, as evidence by the fact that only three of teams in MLS this season have a winning road record.
San Jose saw its six-game unbeaten streak come to an end at Minnesota on Wednesday and will be hungry to get back to its winning way and jump back above the playoff line.
Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, hits the road brimming with confidence after back-to-back home wins over Kansas City and Columbus.
“It’s great, good for the confidence. I think the focus now is get our bodies back and our legs back, but two wins, six points at home in front of our fans is definitely a confidence booster,” said keeper Nick Rimando after Wednesday’s win.
If Rimando gets the starting nod on Saturday, it will be the 500th appearance of his decorated MLS career. It’s no guarantee he will start though because Petke will likely make multiple changes to the lineup for the third game in eight days.
One player who will be back in the line-up is Kyle Beckerman after being suspended on Wednesday for yellow card accumulation.
Conversely, Sam Johnson and Nedum Onuoha both seem unlikely at San Jose after being subbed off with injuries against Columbus.
Johnson — the hero of Wednesday’s win with his breakaway goal — injured his thigh on a shot late in the first half and was subbed off at halftime. Onuoha’s departure came later in the second half after he also suffered a thigh injury on what he was adamant should’ve been a foul in the box.
Neither injury seems to be very serious, but there’s no reason to risk further injury with capable, healthy backups ready to step in.
Following Saturday's game, RSL returns home for a pair of weekend home games as it looks to continue capitalizing on a favorable schedule to climb up the Western Conference standings.