Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Real Salt Lake drew 1-1 with St. Louis City in the Coachella Valley Invitational opener, with Lachlan Brook scoring.
- Coach Pablo Mastroeni is focused on improving RSL's defense, noting the team often plays from behind.
- RSL will face Las Vegas Lights and New York Red Bulls in upcoming preseason matches before the 2025 opener.
INDIO, Calif. — Real Salt Lake begins its 2025 season this month, and got a taste of more intense preseason soccer Wednesday against St. Louis City in the Coachella Valley Invitational opener.
The Claret and Cobalt started most of their expected preferred lineup, minus Diego Luna, who is still out with a broken nose, and newcomers Rafa Cabral, Forster Ajago and Ariath Piol, who are away on visa matters.
The lone RSL goal in the 1-1 draw came from an unexpected source: Australian winger Lachlan Brook, who did not find the back of the net at all in 2024 after coming over midseason.
RSL went down 1-0 in the first half on an own goal from Alex Katranis but fought back in a major way in the second half with 10 corner kicks and promising play around the St. Louis box.
The offensive aggression resulted in an equalizing goal in the 71st minute when Dominik Marczuk found a cutting Lachlan Brook on his way into the box. The 23-year-old from the outer suburbs of Adelaide curled a beautiful ball up and around the St. Louis keeper for his first (unofficial) goal in Claret and Cobalt.
Dominik Marczuk finds Lachlan Brook sprinting into the box and the Aussie curls a beauty over the keeper to tie things up at 1-1 vs. St. Louis in the 71st minute pic.twitter.com/VN82nk65vz
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) February 5, 2025
"We had a few little chances, but it was always just lacking that final ball," Brook said. "I was lucky enough it went in, so I'm really happy."
Head coach Pablo Mastroeni said the team has been trying to get Brook into better goalscoring positions because he's a "very good shooter of the ball."
"Putting him in the right half-space obviously gives him a better angle and an opportunity to score goals," Mastroeni said of the change. "He's been doing great this preseason, and the expectation is that he keeps building on a performance like today."
On the defensive side, Mastroeni said the team has given up some "sloppy" goals through three games of preseason play and feels like they're always "chasing the game" because of that.
Playing from behind became something of an MO for RSL last season; a habit Mastroeni hopes to change in time for the 2025 opener against Herediano in the CONCACAF Champions Cup in just two weeks.
"It's preseason, but I think our clearances in and around the box; sometimes we just try to put the ball down and play in areas where it's not ideal," Mastroeni said. "We're always behind the score line, and that's always going to be difficult."
RSL has two more preseason tune-ups against USL side Las Vegas Lights on Saturday and New York Red Bulls on Feb. 12. The latter will be streamed on the RSL website and YouTube channel.
