Real Salt Lake may have stumbled into answer at right back in Noel Caliskan
The 24-year-old midfielder from Cologne, Germany put in another strong showing during RSL's 0-0 draw with Portland — while missing two starting defenders.
SANDY, Utah — It didn’t include the “winning” part of the club’s “winning through development” mantra, but Real Salt Lake’s 0-0 home draw Wednesday with the Portland Timbers offered a glimpse of a key development in the back line.
Sure, there’s something to be said about a scoreless tie at home for a club that dropped two more points in moving to 2-3-1 en casa and sits 11th in the West with just 14 points and 1.08 points per match.
But given a number of factors up against the club — most notably being down two starting center backs in Justen Glad (yellow-card accumulation) and Brayan Vera (concussion), saving a point through a Herculean effort from goalkeeper Rafael Cabral and central tandem of Sam Junqua and Bode Hidalgo can be considered a success.
It’s just the fourth clean sheet across all competitions for RSL in 2025, with only Cabral the only player to appear in all 1,350 minutes this season, and the first shutout since a 2-0 win over the LA Galaxy back on April 5.
There are still reasons to doubt RSL on the offensive end; we’ll save for another day the chance to look at an offense that had just one shot on goal through 90 minutes. But for now, consider it a small victory that the club figured out how to limit a Timbers side that is currently fourth in the West with 22 points, 1.69 points per match, and a 6-3-4 overall record to four shots on target.
“To have so many absences on the back line,” manager Pablo Mastroeni said, “I’m so proud of the defensive performance.”
And then there was Noel Caliskan.
The converted midfielder from Cologne, Germany, started his second straight match at right back, and the 24-year-old one-time winger who most recently played with Real Monarchs offered a glimpse of what may be a preferred position in the future.
Even if it isn’t necessarily his preferred position at the present.
“It’s alright,” Caliskan said post-match of playing right back, a response that drew laughter from the assembled media, “I guess as a footballer, you always want to be on the field. We’re pretty thin back there.”
Indeed, with Kobi Henry (hamstring), Javain Brown (knee) and Philip Quinton (hamstring) also missing from RSL’s defense, the coaching staff made a unique move to shift Caliskan from his usual midfield role to the back line — and with stunning results, only allowing one goal through two matches (and that down to 10 men on the road at FC Dallas).
It was a complete surprise, either. Caliskan admitted that he grew up playing right back and left back during his academy days at FC Köln and Fortuna Düsseldorf, in addition to multiple midfield positions and winger.
He gravitated toward the midfield in college, where he was named West Coast Conference Midfielder of the Year in back-to-back seasons at Loyola Marymount and a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist as a junior.
But even in each of those stops, Caliskan admits he wasn’t the most athletic player who could out-muscle a lot of his opponents. He had to do something else to be successful.
“Noel is one of our most cerebral soccer players that we have,” Mastroeni said. “Not the most physically gifted player, but one of the brightest soccer minds that I’ve come across. He’s been unbelievable for us these last two games.
“Why would I overlook something that is right in my face?”
Even if Caliskan struggled to identify the word “cerebral” — English is his second language, though he’s extremely fluent — he perfectly described the word when he agreed with his coach in describing his style of play.
“I’m not the fastest; I’m not the strongest. I never was,” he said. “When I was younger, I was always smaller than my opponents. So I had to use something different.”
That “something different” has been something of a secret weapon in a pair of draws for Salt Lake where Caliskan has adapted almost flawlessly to his defensive teammates.
“He looks like a right center back, a fullback, right?” said RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabral, who made one of four stops in the 89th minute Wednesday night to preserve the shutout. “It’s not easy, because he was playing with the second team … and it looks like he’s been playing (the position) for a long time.”
He isn’t just connecting well with Cabral or the back line, including Hidalgo, Junqua and left back Alex Katranis. Caliskan paired particularly well with Gozo, who started on the right wing for the third-straight match and went 90 minutes for the second time in that span against the Timbers.
At one point, the 20-something converted midfielder pushed a Portland attack toward the corner — just as Gozo came swooping in to force a turnover and redirect the Timbers back towards their defensive third in the first half.
“In the preseason, Gozo and I played together for a couple of games,” Caliskan recalled. “That obviously helped us. But he’s a smart kid; he listens to what we yell at him, and obviously makes my job easier.”
Caliskan is adapting well enough in defense that the natural question is: Does he like the switch, or would he rather go back to running the pivot in midfield?
Again, he forced a chuckle. Then, he said exactly what he needed to say.
“Where ever coach needs me,” he said with a smirk.
And for now, that includes right back.
LINEUPS
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Rafael Cabral; Noel Caliskan, Bode Hidalgo, Sam Junqua, Alex Katranis; Emeka Eneli ©, Braian Ojeda (Pablo Ruiz, 78’); Zavier Gozo, Diego Luna, Diogo Gonçalves (Jesus Barea, 59’); Ariath Piol (Dominik Marczuk, 59’)
Subs not used: Mason Stajduhar, Tyler Wolff, Lachlan Brook, Zackery Farnsworth, Johnny Russell, Griffin Dillon
Head Coach: Pablo Mastroeni
Portland Timbers (5-4-1): Maxime Crepeau; Antony (Jonathan Rodriguez, 61’), Claudio Bravo, Kamal Miller, Dario Zuparic, Juan Mosquera; Santiago Moreno (Ariel Lassiter, 79’), Joao Ortiz (Diego Chará, 61’), David Da Costa (Omir Fernandez, 72’), Cristhian Paredes ©; Kevin Kelsy (Felipe Mora, 72’)
Subs not used: Trey Muse, David Ayala, Finn Surman, Eric Miller
Head Coach: Phil Neville
Stats Summary: RSL / POR
Shots: 8 / 12
Shots on Goal: 2 / 4
Saves: 3 / 1
Corner Kicks: 4 / 0
Fouls: 13 / 11
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL: Bode Hidalgo (Yellow Card - 21’)
POR: Cristhian Paredes (Yellow Card - 46’)
RSL: Noel Caliskan (Yellow Card - 64’)
RSL: Diego Luna (Yellow Card - 69’)