Real Salt Lake's Leagues Cup hopes take a hit with shootout loss to San Luis
Braian Ojeda scored the first brace of his RSL career in Salt Lake's 2-2 draw and 4-1 penalty shootout loss to Atlético de San Luis.
Real Salt Lake’s odds to advance to Phase 2 of Leagues Cup aren’t done yet, but they are on life support.
Braian Ojeda scored the first brace of his RSL career, but Andrés Sánchez made the right saves in regulation and a penalty shootout as Atlético de San Luis took two points from a 2-2 draw and 4-1 shootout victory Saturday in Sandy, Utah.
It’s the third goal in eight days across multiple competitions for Ojeda, the defensive midfielder who scored his first goal in over a year last Saturday against the San Jose Earthquakes.
“He’s making plays from deeper positions,” Mastroeni said of Ojeda. “With some of the struggles that we’ve had on the front line, it’s really important that our pivots continue to contribute — and Braian has been that guy for us.”
The 25-year-old Paraguayan international scored his first of the night just nine minutes in, giving the hosts a 1-0 advantage after flying out of the gates amid heavy squad rotation.
It’s the 16th time in the last 28 matches that Salt Lake has scored first.
But João Pedro equalized in the 24th minute, and Miguel García gave Atlético de San Luis the lead with a header in the 82nd minute.
Still, Salt Lake didn’t fold. Ojeda tied the match with a shot from distance, teed up from Alex Katranis in the 88th minute. And Ariath Piol nearly gave RSL all three points with a bicycle kick-attempt in the final minute of stoppage time before Salt Lake went to a penalty shootout for the second consecutive match.
That’s where Andrés Sánchez, who turned aside Diego Luna’s penalty in regulation, stopped three more attempts from the spot in the shootout to give the Liga MX side a second point from the evening.
“I say this all the time, and it’s so silly. But it’s a game of moments,” Mastroeni said.
“If we were able to finish one of our chances and/or the penalty kick, the field tilts. The fans get into it, we believe more than they do, and now the game goes in your favor.”
With three points in hand, Salt Lake will wrap up Phase 1 of Leagues Cup next Wednesday against Querétaro FC.
The top-four teams from each of MLS and Liga MX advance to the Knockout Stages, with Portland (6 points), Miami (5), Minnesota (4) and Columbus (4) currently leading MLS.
RSL is currently 12th with 3 points from the competition.