3 Points: Where is Real Salt Lake after #Cupset loss to Hailstorm FC?
3 Points: Where is Real Salt Lake after #Cupset loss to Hailstorm FC?
Real Salt Lake failed to advance in the U.S. Open Cup for the fifth-straight year, and dropped its fifth-straight match across all competitions after being upset by USL League One's Northern Colorado.
Thanks for spending your morning with Own Goals, the official newsletter of Salt City FC. And thank you for opening this email, clicking on this link, or scrolling through to us in your Substack app — even if it hurts right now.
Real Salt Lake hosted a midweek match Wednesday night, with an announced crowd of just over 19,000 ticket consumers scheduled to join them and USL League One side Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC for the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Hailstorm FC is a brand-new club that plays in U.S. Soccer’s third division, playing in its fifth match all-time and have yet to win a league game. Could they come into Rio Tinto Stadium and shock the country while conceding 16 shots, eight corner kicks and 61% of possession?
Hail yeah, they could.
Rob Cornwall put the Hailstorm in front in the 70th minute, finishing off a wide-open look from the edge of the penalty area on Northern Colorado’s first shot on goal of the match and the Hailstorm never looked back, hanging on for a 1-0 win to eliminate Real Salt Lake from Open Cup contention.
Real Salt Lake out-shot the Hailstorm 16-6, and held Northern Colorado to just one shot on goal, with eight corner kicks and three offside callbacks. But it was the only shot on goal that mattered, when Cornwall finished off a second-ball from Lachlan Mclean with a sublime volley to give the Hailstorm the only lead it needed before the end of the 71st minute in the Cupset victory.
If you watched this match, or if you want to go back and re-watch it, this one will hurt. And it should hurt — there may be no one hurting more than the players who put in 45-90 minutes of work, and have nothing but another embarrassing loss to show for it.
Here are three thoughts on the match.
Hail NCO
If any game proves stats are for nerds, it’s this one.
Yes, the Hailstorm bunkered in at times, resorted to moments of time wasting in a match that featured six yellow cards (including two in stoppage time), and heard active chants of “run to the corner” whenever they earned possession during nine minutes of stoppage time coming from the assistant coaches’ box on the third floor of Rio Tinto Stadium (they’ve already apologized for some of their public outbursts, but like Megan Rapinoe said, never apologize for passion — only swearing).
Northern Colorado is a third-division club, a first-year one at that, and has players together with just over a month of total chemistry and synchronicity. What else would you expect? This was the club’s biggest match of their history — no exaggeration this time — and they played like it. The Hailstorm deserved to win, too.
Even with a group of younger players, Real Monarchs callup, and select seldom-used first-team selections, Real Salt Lake didn’t punish the Hailstorm through 45 scoreless minutes. And Northern Colorado punished the hosts for it.
RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni rolled the dice on significant squad rotation, with the good reason for the second of three matches in six days, and with four of six matches on the road. In many ways, he had to play the squad that he did — or risk more between the club’s road trips to New York City FC (a 6-0 loss) or the Portland Timbers on the weekend.
Still, the rotation blew up. If any player was trying to impress the manager with their play, there’s a good chance they didn’t.
“The group that was out there for the first 60 minutes did the best they could. I can’t expect more than that; they did the best they could,” said Mastroeni, visibly frustrated after the match. “But you’ve got to make plays. I don’t know what else to say; you can set up and get balls in good areas … and tonight we didn’t make enough dangerous plays.”
When asked if any players stood out or impressed with their shot in the Open Cup, Mastroeni hesitated to point out anyone.
Were there moments? Sure, there were moments. But if Mastroeni is judged on results — wins and losses, namely, as all managers are — and not moments, shouldn’t the players be, as well? So what good are moments if they don’t lead to results?
“In this game you need to make plays on both sides of the ball,” Mastroeni said. “Did the defenders make plays? Did Bobby Pierre make a couple good plays? I think so. I think the attacking game requires, in any sport, the X-factor. You’ve got to have the guy that’s going to unlock defenses. Chris (Garcia) had some decent moments, but it’s only going to be judged on the final product. If not, it’s only fleeting.
“The fact that we didn’t score just tells me that we weren’t good enough in that final third. We’ve got to make plays, and I think there’s moments when we could be more selfish and take more responsibility in those areas, and that’s what goal scorers do. They don’t pass, they shoot. We’ll go back and watch the tape, but again, you gotta make plays in the attacking half, and tonight we didn’t do that.”
Upsets happen. Even #Cupsets happen. It’s why we all love sports.
So don’t be mad at the Hailstorm for taking what they did, and earning a result in any way they could. The 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup may have found its Saint Peter’s in a round where MLS teams went 13-3-1 and Columbus, Chicago and Austin FC were all eliminated along with RSL.
Ahead of Thursday’s draw for the Round of 32, MLS clubs dominated the Open Cup field — with one team from MLS Next Pro, five from the second-division USL Championship, one from the third-division NISA, and three from USL League One.
So there you go, RSL fans; as much as losing hurts, you’ve just found this year’s Open Cup team. Let’s see how far the Hailstorm can run.
Is Real Salt Lake in crisis?
It’s still early in the season — just as it was when Salt Lake was winning all those games in the first month of the season (remember those days?). So it’s still too early to push any sort of panic button or call for any heads to roll.
But it’s not too early to state the obvious: RSL has a problem.
Wednesday’s loss is the fifth-straight without a win across all competitions. It marks a winless skid in the Open Cup that dates back seven games, the longest such streak in the 108-year-old tournament’s modern era.
It’s five-game winless streak is also the longest active such skid, and tied for the longest in the modern era (which dates back to 1995, or roughly the founding of MLS).
In short, thing’s aren’t great, Bob. And while it’s definitely too early to panic, even the usually upbeat Mastroeni admitted morale is “not great.”
“It was a lot different when we won three in a row, but we’re still in a good spot in the table,” Mastroeni said. “It’s early in the season. It’s going to test our character and our resolve as a group. It’s on us to make sure that we go to Portland and put forth a very good performance and more importantly get a result to get this thing going.
“My experience in this league is that you can win at home, you can win away, it’s really about the belief system. What we’re working on in the next couple days, along with getting guys fresh and seeing who we have available, is that we’re prepared mentally to go to a difficult place and get a result.”
There’s only one way to get over a loss: pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back in the game.
Even if it hurts. And yes, it should hurt right now — for none more than the players.
“We’re trying to move on from what happened, and the losses from last weekend and this game were all mental,” center back Jaziel Orozco said after the match. “As a group we’re trying to cheer each other up and keep working hard on getting better every day in training and try again tomorrow, so we can keep our heads up in Portland.”
Justen Glad’s thankful return
Among the players who have been out injured, perhaps few were a more welcome sight to see play at full strength than Justen Glad. The Real Salt Lake homegrown center back returned to his role marshaling the center of defense after suffering a hamstring injury that has kept him out of league since March 19.
Glad started in the back Wednesday night surrounded by a group of young players like Real Monarchs defenders Pierre Reedy and Bobby Pierre, fellow injured returnees like goalkeeper David Ochoa and midfielder Jasper Loffelsend, and the occasional RSL first-teamer like Everton Luiz and Rubio Rubin.
He also wore the captain’s armband for the first time in his career, and became the first RSL homegrown to be named captain for a competitive match in club history. The eighth-year player was replaced just after the hour mark by Jaziel Orozco, who will leave RSL briefly to join the United States’ U-20 national team camp after Saturday’s MLS fixture in Portland.
But for Glad, it was good to get competitive minutes — even if he readily admits he tried to sneak on the field earlier in his recovery. But hamstring injuries can be frustrating, and the 25-year-old academy product and longest tenured member of the RSL first team is glad he took the time to recover right.
"I’m sure that the training staff is probably sick of me trying to get back out there as quick as possible,” Glad joked. “I remember one day, I brought boots out to the field and they explicitly told me not to; there was definitely some tension there.
“But they were just doing their job, I was doing my job, and we both want what’s best. I was just itching to get out on the field, but I’m glad we did it the safe way and the right way. And hopefully going forward, I can stay healthy and stay on the pitch.”