Real Salt Lake: How did RSL go from inconsistent to winning a championship?

Throughout the majority of Real Salt Lake's 2009 season, there were few indications of what was going to eventually happen to the fifth-year MLS Club.

On one hand, it was pretty apparent RSL had the potential to be a very good side. On any given Saturday inside Rio Tinto Stadium this year, Salt Lake could play outstanding soccer against almost anyone and win convincingly.

But on the other hand, RSL could be maddeningly inconsistent.

Salt Lake almost always struggled on the road, and as the season wore along, it seemed as though the club quite simply wasn't going to be able to put it all together.

But then a funny thing happened — RSL became the team it was capable of becoming.

After scraping into the MLS Cup playoffs in the final week of October, Real Salt Lake was simply phenomenal down the stretch.

Piecing everything together at exactly the right moment, RSL was the better team in each of its four playoff games, and the end product was an MLS Cup for Salt Lake and Utah's first major professional championship in almost 40 years.

Those four matches will be remembered in club history forever, but here's a complete look back at how RSL actually got there, as well as what happened when it did.

March

0-1-0, 0 points

The message from RSL coach Jason Kreis and GM Garth Lagerwey throughout the offseason was one of stability.

Having advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 2008 with an up-and-coming club, Kreis and Lagerwey determined they could find even more success in 2009 by sticking with their core group of players.

Accordingly, RSL largely stood pat during the offseason, with midfield enforcer Dema Kovalenko and striker Kenny Deuchar the most notable departures (striker Fabian Espindola also left the club during the offseason but later returned) and Ned Grabavoy the most notable addition.

On the heels of a pretty successful preseason, RSL had to wait an extra week to kick off its season with an opening weekend bye.

One week later, RSL began its 2009 campaign on the road to Seattle, where the club took on the Sounders in front of 28,548 frenzied fans inside Qwest Field.

It proved to be a somewhat inauspicious beginning, as RSL fell 2-0 to Seattle.