Real Salt Lake needs to win, then get some help

SANDY — Amid all the inconsistencies that now have Real Salt Lake teetering on the brink of playoff elimination, it's hard to believe expectations were sky-high for this team back in March.

With nearly every starter returning, the consensus around the country was that Real Salt Lake would easily challenge Houston for the Western Conference title. At Rio Tinto Stadium, it met those expectations. On the road, however, it was awful, finishing with the second-worst away record in franchise history.

"To be successful in this league, you've got to be on at all times and be consistent, and we're inconsistent when we're on the road for sure," said RSL keeper Nick Rimando.

Despite all the things that haven't unfolded as planned, there's still hope for a playoff berth. With a win tonight and some help around the league, Real Salt Lake has a chance to make everyone forget about its 2009 troubles by securing one of the remaining MLS wild-card berths.

Unfortunately for RSL, there are five other teams in the hunt for those last playoff openings as well — and all five have more points in the standings. One of the five is Colorado, which wraps up the regular season tonight at Rio Tinto Stadium at 7.

RSL's only hope at sneaking into the playoffs begins with beating Colorado, and beating the Rapids by two or more goals increases those odds nearly twofold.

This is the third straight season these Rocky Mountain rivals are meeting in the final game of the regular season, but the first time in Utah. In the previous two, RSL got the result it needed to officially eliminate the Rapids from playoff contention.

"I never feel like when we play Colorado there's extra motivation needed," said RSL coach Jason Kreis. "To put all the chips in there and have them all matter this last game makes it's pretty nice, pretty exciting."

The magnitude of the match won't change RSL's approach, according to Kreis.

"I think we have to handle this as we have any other home game this year," he said. "I think we have heaped the right amount of pressure on ourselves at home so that we should be used to it. It's nothing different, it's nothing new."

No matter what happens, Real Salt Lake is still at the mercy of four other games around MLS today and Sunday, which should make for a wild weekend.

The other four teams in the playoff chase are Toronto FC, New England, D.C. United and FC Dallas, and curiously enough, they're all on the road. If at least two of the four win this weekend, RSL is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

That moment could come as early as the 60th minute of RSL's match with Colorado. Toronto at New York kicks off at 5:30 tonight, whereas D.C. United at Kansas City begins at 6:30 p.m.

The two other meaningful matches are FC Dallas at Seattle at 8:30 p.m. and then New England at Columbus on Sunday at 4 p.m.

If RSL takes care of business against the Rapids — and less than two of the other four teams win — the final playoff berths will likely be decided by a host of tiebreakers which actually favors RSL.

Kreis' team won the season series against D.C. United (1-0-1) and split the season series against New England, Toronto FC and FC Dallas.

e-mail: jedward@desnews.com