Kreis has never shied away from admitting that Houston is the perfect model. He believes the best way to be successful is by identifying a core group of players and trying to keep them intact from year to year.

In the past year-and-a-half, RSL has assembled what it hopes will be a core that can be competitive for several years. By inking key foreigners such as Jamison Olave and Javier Morales to three-year contracts, and surrounding them with a good mix of veterans including Clint Mathis and Nat Borchers and younger players such as Will Johnson and Yura Movsisyan, Real Salt Lake hopes to one day reach the same level of consistency as Houston.

This weekend, though, the team is just looking for a result.

RSL snapped a seven-game winless streak last weekend in Los Angeles with its first road victory of the season.

"It was immeasurable. We needed it in the very worst way, and certainly to have any chance going into Houston, we had to have a positive result in L.A. so we could get a little bit of confidence," said Kreis.

Similar success in Houston won't come easily. RSL has never won or tied a match at Robertson Stadium, having been outscored 12-8 in the process.

To have any hope this time around, RSL will have to shore up its backline.

"We feel like what we did against L.A. can work against them. We can go and try and do the same exact thing," said RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman.

"The main thing is team committed defense," he said. "When we're all playing 'D' together, the chances to score come off of that. If we can do that, we're going to have a chance against Houston."

E-mail: jedward@desnews.com