Milestone week: Zavier Gozo scores 1st MLS goal in Real Salt Lake's 3-2 loss to Vancouver
Real Salt Lake teenager Zavier Gozo graduated from high school Thursday, started in RSL's home match Saturday against Vancouver, and scored his first MLS goal in less than a minute of a wild week.
SANDY, Utah — Real Salt Lake’s Zavier Gozo faced one of the biggest milestones of his young, teenage life this week.
And then he scored his first MLS goal on Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd at America First Field.
But first, the 18-year-old winger graduated from high school, where he and his classmates from the Salt Lake Academy Class of 2025 gathered at Zions Bank Stadium on Thursday accept diplomas, move tassels, and take photos with mom, dad, grandma and any siblings that made the trek to Herriman.
After the pomp and circumstance of Thursday morning, Gozo then joined his RSL teammates a few yards away on the practice facility training pitch, where there was some good-natured ribbing in addition to hearty congratulations for a few moments.
But mostly, the club had a match to scout in hosting West-leading Vancouver on the weekend.
Gozo, for his part, barely had enough time to think about the rest of the stuff.
“I honestly haven’t really been thinking about it; it’s just kind of my life,” Gozo said. “But it’s really cool. I feel really grateful to be living the life I did.”
Gozo scored his first MLS goal in Real Salt Lake’s 3-2 loss to the Whitecaps in front of an announced crowd of 20,034. And while the result isn’t what the youngster wanted for him or his team on his celebratory weekend, it didn’t stop the teen of 18 years, 63 days from becoming the third-youngest goal scorer in club history when he found the back of the net 50 seconds in.
Diego Luna followed in the fourth minute as Salt Lake took a 2-0 lead before the fifth minute for the first time in club history.
But the early margin didn’t stand up as Brian White finished a corner kick and converted from the penalty spot in the first half, and Pedro Viti scored in the 90th minute to give the Whitecaps (9-1-4, 31 points) all three points from the Rocky Mountain road trip.
But back to Gozo’s goal for a moment.
“I think it had been a long time coming,” Mastroeni said. “He’s been in really good spots, and moments like that accelerate your belief and accelerate your career. For me, he was one of the bright spots on the field tonight.”
Of course, it wasn’t all bright spots and roses.
RSL dropped points for the fifth-straight match, including back-to-back losses last week at Colorado and Saturday at home. Before a quick turnaround to Wednesday’s road tilt at Austin FC (6:30 p.m. MT, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV), the club will try to figure out what they could’ve done better than jumping out to a 2-0 lead less than five minutes in before falling late.
For starters, Salt Lake’s frustrations from the penalty spot arose again in the 25th minute, when VAR uncovered an inadvertent handball on RSL striker William Agada and the referee pointed to the spot for a kick that White buried with little hesitation.
But only five minutes prior, Sebastien Berhalter delivered a powerful out-swinging set piece into the six-yard box for an easy header off the captain to begin his brace.
Too easy. Too simple. Too … well, you can guess how Mastroeni and RSL’s roster responded to another penalty kick by which they felt hard-done.
“For me, that’s not a penalty kick,” Mastroeni said. “Willy knows nothing about it. It’s the frustration that coaches around the world have with this handball; there’s no subjectivity to it.”
It’s the ninth loss in 15 MLS matches for Salt Lake, which hasn’t tasted a win since April 26 in San Diego. After the midweek trek to Q2 Stadium in Austin, RSL hits the road again to face the LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday.
NOTES FROM RSL 2 : 3 VAN (courtesy Real Salt Lake Stats & Information)
18-year-old Zavier Gozo’s score within the opening minute marked his first-ever goal for RSL, making him the third-youngest goalscorer in the Club’s 21-year history. Coming at precisely 50 seconds into the contest, the teenager’s strike also represents RSL’s second-fastest goal thus far this season (seventh-fastest all-time in 663 MLS games) following Diogo Goncalves’ earlier strike in the 2-1 away win on March 15 at Houston
Saturday night’s pair of goals inside the opening four minutes also represents the first time in the Club’s history that RSL has scored more than once within the opening five minutes of any competitive match. The last MLS team to achieve the same feat were the New York Red Bulls against New York City FC in May 2018.
During the Pablo Mastroeni era, RSL’s all-time record of matches when scoring first now stands at 38 wins, 8 losses, and 13 draws, with four losses this season alone (against Herediano, San Diego, Nashville, and now Vancouver) after breaking the 0-0 deadlock.
Saturday night’s defeat also represents RSL’s 14th set of back-to-back defeats in 156 games with Mastroeni at the helm, RSL dropping consecutive matches on five occasions through the first 17 matches this season (all competitions).
Midfielder Diego Luna’s 4th-minute strike marked his eighth MLS goal this season, sitting him comfortably atop the club’s scoring charts and matching his total goal output from 2024, when he earned MLS All-Star honors and captured the MLS Young Player of the Year award.
LINEUPS:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Rafael Cabral; Noel Caliskan (Bode Hidalgo 81’), Brayan Vera (Philip Quinton 56’), Jusen Glad, Alex Katranis (Sam Junqua 71’); Emeka Eneli ©, Pablo Ruiz (Braian Ojeda 71’); Dominik Marczuk, Zavier Gozo, Diego Luna; William Agada (Ariath Piol 71’)
Subs not used: Nelson Palacio, Mason Stadjuhar, Aiden Hezarkhani, Johnny Russel
Head Coach: Pablo Mastroeni
Vancouver Whitecaps (4-3-3): Yohei Takaoka; Édier Ocampo (Mathías Laborda 81’), Tristan Blackmon, Bjørn Inge Utvik, Sam Adekugbe (Tate Johnson 68’); Sebastian Berhalter, Pedro Vite, Ralph Priso (J.C. Ngando 85’); Ali Ahmed (Daniel Ríos 85’), Brian White, Jayden Nelson (Emmanuel Sabbi 68’)
Subs not used: Ranko Veselinović, Giuseppe Bovalina, Isaac Boehmer, Jeevan Badwal
Head Coach: Jesper Sørensen
Stats Summary: RSL 2 / VAN 3
Shots: 15 / 15
Shots on Goal: 6 / 6
Saves: 3 / 4
Corner Kicks: 8 / 6
Fouls: 16 / 12
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL: William Agada (Yellow card - 45’+5’)
RSL : Noel Caliskan (Yellow card - 60’)
RSL : Diego Luna (Yellow card - 65’)
Van : Ali Ahmed (Yellow card - 77’)
Van : Ralph Priso (Yellow card - 83’)
RSL : Emeka Eneli (Yellow card - 93’)