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RSL aim to lock up postseason berth against 'Quakes

Oct 10, 2014 - 9:45 PM Sandy, UT (SportsNetwork.com) - Real Salt Lake will shoot to lock up a seventh consecutive playoff berth with a win on Saturday against the San Jose Earthquakes at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Jeff Cassar's team had a golden opportunity to clinch their playoff spot last week, but suffered a surprising 1-0 loss to Chivas USA at the StubHub Center.

After a scoreless first half, Chivas broke the deadlock in the 47th minute when RSL substitute Rich Balchan lost possession in his own half to Erick Torres, whose chipped effort hit the crossbar, but Felix Borja was there to clean up the rebound.

The Goats had an opportunity to double the lead in the 65th minute when Balchan took down Torres in the box, resulting in a penalty kick, but RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando came up with a huge stop to keep his side in the game.

RSL's best scoring chance came in the 78th minute as Javier Morales lined up a free kick from 25 yards out on the right side of the pitch, but his strike was straight at Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy and the Goats held on for all three points.

"It just comes down to I need to do a better job of making sure the guys are prepared and next week we will. It was a warm night here, the guys expended a lot of energy and when you have to make a sub in the back it's never easy and it's hard to replace [Chris Schuler]," Cassar said. "We needed to make a few subs we were unable to. So it was a tough night. Everything was just a little bit off. That comes down to me. I need to do a better job making sure that we are nice and sharp in all the areas of the field."

"I think each game is a different animal. Tonight we just weren't extremely sharp, we got frustrated because [Chivas USA] did sit back, they were hard to penetrate. A lot of teams have done that against us. A lot of times if you don't get another lead goal on them they just sit back and frustrate you and catch you on a counterattack. We didn't do a great job of that. I need to do a better job as a coach to prepare the team for situations like this."

San Jose, meanwhile, will mostly be playing for pride with an eye toward next season when they move into a brand new stadium having already been eliminated from playoff contention following a 3-0 loss to Portland on Wednesday.

After a cagey first 40 minutes, the Timbers broke the deadlock four minutes before the break when Darlington Nagbe collected a loose ball just outside the box and sent it out wide to Rodney Wallace, who beat San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch from a difficult angle.

After the break, the Timbers kept the pressure up and it paid off in the 51st minute when San Jose defender Jason Hernandez was whistled for a foul in the box after dragging down Timbers forward Fanendo Adi, resulting in a penalty kick which Diego Valeri converted with ease.

The Argentine playmaker then completed his double in the 73rd minute, etching his name in the Portland Timbers record books in the process as his 11 goals are the most by a Portland player in a single season.

Saturday's clash will be the third and final meeting of the season between the sides, who played to 1-1 and 3-3 draws so far this term.