It might be now or never for Real Salt Lake.
A win against San Jose on Wednesday would bring RSL within one point of the Earthquakes in the Western Conference.
A loss would put RSL seven points behind San Jose with just seven games left in the season.
“We know this is a huge game for us,” forward Brooks Lennon said. “Obviously we’re close in points, and these are the kinds of games that you need to win to get into the playoffs.”
RSL (8-13-5, 26 points), which plays at home again on Saturday against rival Colorado, sits at an odd spot in the standings. At eighth in the Western Conference, the seven teams above Real Salt Lake are all within seven points of each other. The three teams below it are within one point of each other.
Because it sits on an island of its own, RSL’s 3-1 loss at Montreal Saturday couldn’t uproot it from the No. 8 spot. Neither could its 1-0 win at D.C. two weeks ago.
The Whitecaps have an advantage on both the Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake with both more points and more games to go. But RSL will get its chance to play Vancouver too, on Sept. 9.
That match is in the middle of a block of eight Western Conference matchups to finish out the regular season.
“At this point,” RSL center back Justen Glad said, “we’re about as motivated as you can be just because it’s really down to the wire and every game counts.”
Justen Glad on defending Chris Wondolowski: pic.twitter.com/U2ths6lJP0
— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) August 22, 2017
As RSL snapped its six-match unbeaten streak in Montreal last weekend, San Jose tied 2-2 with Philadelphia, to put RSL four points behind the seventh place team in the West.
RSL’s last matchup with the Quakes, on June 24, was Dominic Kinnear’s last game at the helm for San Jose. The Earthquakes beat RSL 2-1 at Avaya Stadium.
The next day, the team announced that it had replaced Kinnear with Chris Leitch.
“When we played them at home they were in a 4-4-2,” Glad said. “They’re in a 3-5-2 now, so it’s going to be obviously a little different, different game. Home and away is always different.”
RSL will likely be without center back Marcelo Silva as it goes up against San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski in the midst of his eighth straight 10-goal season.
Silva left Saturday’s match in the sixth minute with what trainers described at the time as thigh tightness. He is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game with a hamstring injury.
“We know exactly what to expect from them,” RSL coach Mike Petke said of the Earthquakes. “But then again they could mix something up. So it’s really about us, how we want to approach the game and how we want to put them on their heels from the start and be very weary of them sitting back at first and then looking to counterattack.”
San Jose at Real Salt Lake<br>Kickoff » 8 p.m. at Rio Tinto Stadium<br> TV » KMYU <br>Radio » ESPN 700 AM<br>Records » RSL 8-13-5, San Jose 9-10-6<br>Last meeting » San Jose won 2-1 (June 24, at Avaya Stadium) <br>About the Earthquakes » With a goal against the Philadelphia Union, Chris Wondolowski has hit the10-goal mark in eight straight seasons. … The Quakes have only lost two of their past 10 matches against RSL. … Harold Cummings (ankle) and Marc Pelosi (knee) are sidelined with injuries. … Florian Jungwirth (shoulder) and Nick Lima (thigh) are questionable for the match.<br>About RSL » RSL is winless in its past five matches against the Earthquakes. … RSL has finished with draws in its past threehome games … RSL is 4-4-4 at Rio Tinto Stadium this season. … RSL’s Jordan Allen, Omar Holness and Chad Barrett remain out (knee surgeries).... Matt Van Oekel (ankle), Demar Phillips (hamstring) and MarceloSilva (hamstring) are questionable for the match.