Real Salt Lake: Team erratic in games' final minutes

Kreis said he still has the utmost confidence in forwards like Kenny Deuchar and Robbie Findley, and he believes it's just a matter of time until the goals start coming in bunches. Until then, RSL will continue to rely on several promising players thus far in 2008.

Lagerwey believes that Javier Morales, who is tied for the league lead with seven assists, is having an all-star caliber season at attacking midfielder.

Another player who Lagerwey has been pleasantly surprised with is rookie defender Beltran, taken with the third overall pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. Despite Saturday's own goal, he's started nine matches and is second only to Los Angeles' Sean Franklin, who leads all rookies with 13 starts.

Lagerwey said he's also been very pleased with the way Chris Wingert has elevated his game and leadership, not to mention the satisfaction of seeing defender Jamison Olave's recent emergence. Dema Kovalenko and Kyle Beckerman have been solid as well in the midfield.

Moving forward, Real Salt Lake must find a way to be more productive on the road if it hopes to secure its first playoff berth in franchise history. While RSL has been impressive at Rice-Eccles Stadium with a 4-0-4 unbeaten record, it's one of the worst teams in MLS on the road with a 1-6-0 mark.

"I think there's been some very positive things and there's been some not-so positive things," said Kreis, who is 11-19-11 since taking over for John Ellinger early last season. "I still feel like we're moving in the right direction."

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E-mail: jedward@desnews.com