Real Salt Lake not overconfident vs. last-place 'Quakes

SANDY — Fresh off its easy dispatching of Toronto, a team tied for second in the Eastern Conference, things seemingly get simpler tonight for Real Salt Lake.

San Jose, the lone occupant of the Western Conference basement, pays a visit to Rio Tinto Stadium tonight in search of its first road victory of the season and to improve upon its minus-11 road goal differential.

Should be an easy win for RSL, right?

"The two teams in last place right now are San Jose and New York and they both beat us, so I don't think where they are in the table is an issue for us," said RSL defender Chris Wingert.

San Jose and New York each sit in last place in their respective conferences with a combined 5-20-7 record, and two of those five wins have come against Real Salt Lake. New York upended RSL 2-0 back on April 18, with San Jose following suit with a 2-1 victory on May 30.

"I'm very disappointed with that fact, but it shows that any team on any day can beat anybody in this league; if you don't show up and give 100 percent, and do it collectively, you're going to get it handed to you," said Real coach Jason Kreis.

His team can't fix past failures, but returning the favor against San Jose at 8 p.m. would be another step in the right direction. In the midst of a modest four-game winning streak with a 2-0-2 mark since losing at San Jose, three more points could do wonders for RSL's confidence heading into the holiday weekend.

Next week RSL takes a break from league play with a July 11 friendly against Mexico's Club America. Kreis insists he will play his best players against Club America but said most guys wouldn't be playing 90 minutes.

With a tough road test the following weekend against defending MLS Cup champion Columbus on July 18, the last thing RSL's players need tonight is to head into a two-week break from league play on a losing note.

"I really feel like if we can get a win this weekend we're putting ourselves back in a pretty good spot coming off a few results," said Wingert.

A victory would boost Real Salt Lake (5-6-4) back to .500, a solid beginning to the second half of the regular season after a turbulent first half.

Kreis has said he's surprised his team doesn't have more than 19 points thus far, the same point total RSL had at the midway point last year. At the same time, he believes the 2009 team is in a better position to make a move.

"I feel like the group is collectively further along in our soccer. I don't feel like there's as many questions as we had last year," said Kreis.