Real Salt Lake's 2023 season ends in Houston for a club that never stopped believing

Diego Luna scored the dramatic equalizer to force penalty kicks, but RSL couldn't hold on during a 4-3 shootout loss Saturday night to the Dynamo.

Players are so much more than the result of one tiny moment in a game, but in a moment like the one Diego Luna faced Saturday night in Houston, it felt like the end of the world.

The 20-year-old U.S. international has played around the world and risen to become one of the top players at Real Salt Lake in just over a year with his first MLS club. But when Luna’s penalty kick was stopped during Real Salt Lake’s 4-3 penalty shootout loss that ultimately sent the club into the offseason after a 1-1 draw with the Dynamo.

In that moment, all the emotions hit Luna — and few of the good ones like scoring a career-high five goals with three assists, representing the United States at the U-20 World Cup, or finding the back of the net in four of the final five matches of the season.

In that moment, only one emotion filled Luna.

“Disappointment. I think disappointment is the one emotion in my head,” Luna said. “I think we worked hard coming away from home two times and working our butt off. But that’s how soccer is, and how it happens sometimes.”

As his teammates and coach were quick to remind him, Luna had little to room for disappointment. His goal in the second half pulled RSL even after former RSL Homegrown Corey Baird gave Houston a 1-0 halftime lead, and were it not for Luna, the entire tenure of the best-of-three first-round series may have been over before Salt Lake even reached Saturday night.

Sure, it doesn’t mean much in the moment. But the youngster had no reason to hold his head down.

“I think the margins in these moments are so thin, and often times we want to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni said. “But what he’s been able to do in a year and change with the group is amazing. He’s committed so much to his craft, and it’s on display every game we play. As a young player, not scoring your PK in the moment seems monumental to overcome. But if there’s one guy that can brush it off and get back to work, it’s Diego Luna. I couldn’t be more pleased with his contributions on both sides of the ball, and what he’s been able to achieve in his career.”

In a year marked by tremendous growth on the pitch, Luna’s biggest achievements were off it — specifically, the birth of his first child, a son, who helped him realize just how lucky he was.

“I think the biggest thing for me has been my own mental state and figuring out what is helping me and what is not,” Luna said. “Figuring out a routine, what benefits me, what helps me play, what helps me stay in the right mindset. I finally realized what needs to happen for me to score goals and to be in the right place to perform well.”

Through 46 games, 10 months and multi-tier runs across MLS, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and the inaugural Leagues Cup, Real Salt Lake learned a bit about itself.

In Year 19 of the club, the club rallied around shortages and hardships, with 31 players eventually donning the crest to represent soccer on the Wasatch Front.

When the curtain finally lowered on the 2023 season, it was a familiar host — the Houston Dynamo — that played the final call. Perhaps it was fitting, after five matches against Houston that included an elimination in the Bayou City in the semifinals of the Open Cup, as well.

The Dynamo, for better or for worse, had RSL’s number. They’ll move on to face Sporting Kansas City in a win-or-go-home Western Conference semifinal, and not Salt Lake.

Say what you will about MLS’s new playoff format, one likely created to provide Apple with more inventory and games across a 10-year, multi-billion dollar media rights deal. But in this series, the (slightly) better team in the regular season won — and, as Mastroeni put it, by the narrowest of margins.

That didn’t stop RSL from trying, or believing. But sometimes belief can only take you so far.

“We can go head to head with anyone,” RSL defender Justen Glad said. “There was a belief that if we win this game, we a win the next one and the next one. When you’ve got a locker room full of guys ready to battle for each other, you put yourself in position to succeed. Tonight it just didn’t go in our favor.”

Glad will be back after signing an extension through the 2026 season. Several of his teammates will be, as well. Some won’t, as is always the case in MLS and across professional sports.

But the lessons learned will last a lifetime and a career — including for the young rising RSL superstar overcome by emotion after missing his penalty in Houston.

“I think there was a lot to take away, especially on a personal level. Just growing every year,” Glad said. “It’s a long season, and it gets down to crunch time, when you really need to buckle down and keep doing all the little things. I think that’s what I’ll take going forward: keeping the level of professionalism. As I get older, it gets more and more important. Keep taking care of the body and the offseason, and stay fresh.”