The heat is on as Real Salt Lake, sitting in final playoff spot in West, starts three-game road trip

Two months ago, Real Salt Lake found itself.

Three wins in a week propelled RSL from the cellar, below the red line, back into playoff contention. If you can pull that off in Major League Soccer, that’s precisely what happens. You rocket up the standings. Coming off a 2-0 win over Seattle on June 4 — the second time RSL had topped its rivals from the Northwest — RSL was an astonishing 14 points clear of the back-to-back MLS Cup finalists.

As they tend to do, however, the Sounders eventually found themselves after yet another rocky start. And as RSL’s miserable road form continues into the dog days of summer, suddenly that cushion to kick off the summer has nearly evaporated. Two months later, Seattle is just three points shy of sixth-place RSL, and with a game in hand.

In other words: Here we go.

On the heels of the disappointing 1-1 home draw with the Montreal Impact on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium, RSL’s postseason resolve could very well be sorted out in the coming weeks. Because the club encounters its nemesis of 2018: the road. Starting Wednesday evening at expansion franchise LAFC in downtown Los Angeles, RSL has three straight road matches. Of the 10 regular-season outings left on the docket, six are away from home.

“Everything’s there for us to try and get some points,” RSL captain Kyle Beckerman said.

One of the worst road teams in MLS has to if it is to protect the sixth and final playoff slot occupied for the last month or so. The Sounders are charging, the Vancouver Whitecaps, just two points shy of RSL, just went to Portland and ended the Timbers’ 15-game unbeaten streak over the weekend. Should RSL maintain its spot above the line, it’ll need results away from Rio Tinto. And more than than just a couple.

“Points,” RSL coach Mike Petke said bluntly when asked his expectations for the three-game road trip. “We need points. Ten games left.”

It starts at Banc of California Stadium Wednesday on ESPN2. The shiny new digs in downtown L.A. are just the latest in a series of cash-splashing first-year clubs in MLS.

The club’s done pretty well for itself, too. LAFC is one point clear of RSL in the standings, having gone 5-1-5 at home so far in 2018. The club has been active in the player market as well. Since the season began, its traded for midfielder Lee Nguyen, traded for striker Christian Ramirez and recently signed U.S. youth international Josh Perez from Italian club Fiorentina.

“They have a very stacked roster and very good personnel player-for-player,” Petke said. “It’s going to be an extremely difficult game for us.”

RSL vows no redemption will be in play.

After all, LAFC thumped RSL 5-1 in the 2018 home opener at Rio Tinto Stadium the second match of the year in one of RSL’s worst-ever home losses in franchise history.

“I think we’d definitely like to show better,” Beckerman said. “Nobody thought that was going to happen. It was kind of our own wake-up call for us early in the season, so definitely we want to get some respect back.”

“No revenge factor,” Petke said. “It’s a completely different time of season, different venue.”

A first-time visit necessitating anything other than another road loss.