Damir Kreilach's message that helped spark Rubio Rubín, RSL to within 2 wins of a Cup title
Damir Kreilach's message that helped spark Rubio Rubín, RSL to within 2 wins of a Cup title
Rubín had two assists and won a penalty, and Damir Kreilach added a brace as Real Salt Lake held off the LA Galaxy, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night.
SANDY, Utah — Rubio Rubín has figured something out.
Four days after scoring a brace in a 2-1 road win over Austin FC, Rubín notched two assists and drew a penalty kick to help Real Salt Lake advance to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals for the first time since 2015 with a 3-2 win over the LA Galaxy at America First Field.
Damir Kreilach scored twice, and Jefferson Savarino added a goal for RSL, which avenged last week’s stunning 3-2 loss to the Galaxy in MLS play.
But with respect to those two — and a team that has rotated at least seven players for the past six matches across all competitions — much of Wednesday night’s first home win since April 22 was about Rubín.
El Chapín is back to doing what he does best. His coaches and teammates never doubted him, even after 830 scoreless minutes from the club’s most regular starting striker.
“Pro sports is like that,” Rubín said. “I don’t think people realize it. Sometimes you go into these moments and think about the goal, or think about it too much. It’s just the reality, like anything in life.
“But Pablo and the coaching staff, my teammates, told me every day to keep fighting. I had a really special moment with Dami, when he messaged me after the LAFC match when I didn’t find the back of the net. He told me to keep going, said, ‘you’re a special player and you mean a lot to us.’ Having a leader like him gave me that motivation; it happened four days ago, and it happened again with this team. I just have to continue to believe in myself, most importantly.”
Rubín broke on to the scene in his first season with RSL, scoring eight goals with five assists in 34 appearances in 2021 after signing from San Diego Loyal in the USL Championship.
Then came the drought: just one goal across all competitions in 2022, losing his starting spot for all but seven of the 23 matches for which he was available.
So when Kreilach messaged Rubín, his message was simple: let’s go back to 2021.
“I know that Rubio is a hard worker. He’s a big asset to the team, and he deserves so many goals this season,” said Kreilach, who missed most of the 2022 season with a back injury. “I’m so happy with his performance against Austin and with his performance tonight.
“We know each other. We played a lot next to each other in 2021, and he had the best season of his career. I had the best season of my career, and then unfortunately I got injured. So we had a fair number of messages one afternoon, and just said, let’s get back to 2021. Tonight, it worked very well. But it’s not about one or two guys; it’s about all of us, and I’m grateful to be his teammate and to be a part of this team. If we keep going, that’s what it’s all about.”
With RSL controlling nearly 2/3 of early possession, Kreilach capitalized with the go-ahead goal off his right foot, picking out the back of the net after Rubin set him up with a pass from Savarino.
Kreilach doubled the advantage after Rubín won him a penalty in first-half stoppage time, and Rubín earned his second assist by finding Savarino on a breakaway in the 51st minute to stretch RSL’s lead to 3-0.
Then came the adversity: Gaston Brugman pulled one back from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute, and Douglas Costa added a wonder strike less than two minutes later to cut LA’s deficit to one.
Another team would’ve panicked. A younger team, even a younger RSL team, probably so.
But Gavin Beavers made four saves, including a stop at the start of five minutes of stoppage time, to keep alive Salt Lake’s hopes for its first CONCACAF Champions League berth since 2016.
“I’m really proud of this group,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said. “I think we have a ways to go; it would be naive to say that, because we got the result, we’re a finished product. There’s a standard to uphold, and the only way to uphold it is to keep getting better.”
Here’s a look at the other results from the Open Cup quarterfinals:
Inter Miami 1, Birmingham Legion 0
The final draw that will determine hosting priority will be conducted Thursday at 11 a.m. MT, live on the CBS Sports Golazo Network.