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SANDY — Do you believe in momentum?
Real Salt Lake certainly does — and after an 11-match home unbeaten streak, the club that opened its season with a pummeling 5-1 loss now has its sights set on a dozen.
Real Salt Lake will host the Montreal Impact at 8 p.m. MDT Saturday in the second of two matches at Rio Tinto Stadium on the weekend. The match will follow the Utah Royals' critical home kickoff against Seattle Reign FC at 1:30 p.m. MDT on Lifetime.
With just 11 matches remaining to try and clinch a playoff spot, every win is vital for Real Salt Lake (10-9-4, 34 points) to try to get back into the postseason for the first time since 2015.
"Everybody knows. We know the importance of each and every game now," RSL captain Kyle Beckerman said. "We have to win, and it’s getting cutthroat now. Everybody knows what is at stake."
Doubly so for home matches, where Salt Lake is 9-1-2 on the year compared to a below-average 1-8-2 on the road. Utah's MLS side plays six of its final 10 matches on the road after Saturday.
"Every home game, that’s the first place where we start," Beckerman said. "We want to make sure that home field is taken care of. If we can take care of home and then work our way to be better on the road, everything will be taken care of.
"So far, the past couple of years we've been building that. I think there's a lot of confidence in the team at home — and it’s got to continue while we try to improve on the road."
Your first look at #RSLvMTLpic.twitter.com/PLTcDjDRnP
— Real Salt Lake (@RealSaltLake) August 10, 2018
Home field is also a good place to build on momentum, such as the emotional energy captured in a Damir Kreilach-spurred 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire last Saturday.
So, do you believe in momentum? RSL rookie Aaron Herrera does.
"In soccer, it’s huge — in a game and game-to-game," Herrera said. "But winning is a huge thing, and winning becomes a habit. We’ve been winning at home, and we’ve just got to keep that momentum."
Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. MDT on KSL.com and the KSL TV app.
Doubling down
Saturday’s match is part of a rare doubleheader at Rio Tinto Stadium, where the expansion franchise Utah Royals (7-6-7, 28 points) will host Seattle in a critical match between two teams separated by just five points in the league table.
And head coach Laura Harvey knows the Reign (9-4-6, 33 points) well — she was the two-team NWSL coach of the year in Seattle after taking the team to back-to-back regular-season titles and championship game appearances.
"Going back to Memorial (Stadium in Seattle) was, honestly, an emotional roller coaster for me, personally," said Harvey, whose current squad is 0-1-1 against her former team. "And to lose the way we did — I felt that we had a game plan that we set out to get after them, and we did, but I don’t think that we deserved to lose that game, either.
"So yeah, I’m really excited to bring them back here," she added before cheekily quipping, "I hope it’s 100 degrees."
O’Hara on the mend
Harvey also mentioned in her post-match press conference following Utah’s 1-0 win over Washington that U.S. utility winger Kelley O’Hara is "close" to returning as the Royals make one final push for the playoffs.
O'Hara suffered a hamstring injury in late May that has kept her off the pitch for the bulk of the Royals’ season. And though the former Sky Blue FC forward likely won’t be available Saturday, she will travel with the team to potentially be made available for selection Aug. 18 at Sky Blue and Aug. 22 at Washington.
