Real Salt Lake closed out April with a massive road win to snap a two-game slide and exact revenge against expansion San Diego, which won by an identical 1-3 scoreline on Utah soil earlier this season.

RSL Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s charges rose – with star playmaker Diego Luna delivering his second brace of the year – to give San Diego FC its first-ever home loss, for the Utah side a well-deserved, ultimately comfortable 3-1 win away at Snapdragon Stadium.

U.S. Men’s National Team star Diego Luna emerged as the headline act, with two goals less than 10 minutes apart on either side of halftime, first to give RSL the lead and then restore it after the hosts had managed to pull level.

Substitute defender Sam Junqua then managed to provide the dagger with a powerfully driven long-range effort to secure all three points and hand Mastroeni his 100th win across all competitions in the 48-year-old’s managerial career at the Rocky Mountain cup rivals, RSL and Colorado.

The visitors were dealt an early tragedy when defender Brayan Vera was forced off after suffering a serious head injury from a nasty defensive collision with his own goalkeeper, Rafael Cabral just 10 minutes in.

The hosts had dominated much of the proceedings up until that point, but RSL fortuitously managed to draw first blood against the run of play late in the first half when Luna capitalized on an errant turnover near the hosts’ defensive third, picking up the ball in the left channel before making his way into the box and curling a powerful effort into the back of the net.

San Diego then pulled level just before halftime when former Napoli Forward Chucky Lozano beat Cabral from the spot, squirming an effort past the Brazilian goalkeeper after defender Alex Katranis was whistled for a foul in the penalty area.

The drama would continue early on in the second period, as RSL managed to retake the lead when referee Ricardo Fierro called play back on an adjudged handball offense in the area, allowing Luna to confidently roll the ball into the bottom left-hand corner for his second goal of the night as well as the 21-year-old’s fifth goal and second brace of the season (April 5).

Two goals then turned into three just 12 minutes later when substitute defender Junqua managed to hammer a low left-footed effort from outside the box past the keeper and into the bottom right-hand corner to effectively seal the contest.

In the second half, Neely-acquired striker William Agada was also able to mark his debut, coming on in the 67th minute to become RSL’s 222nd player in the club’s all-time MLS regular season history.

Next up for RSL (4-6-0, 12 points, 9th West) is an away clash with West table-topping Vancouver FC, next Saturday, May 3, at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. Kickoff for this contest is slated for 8:30 p.m. MT.

Warriors rugby makes huge comeback to get home win over Chicago

Utah Warrior rugby doesn’t get much better than what fans were able to witness during the final 40 minutes of the home team’s 41-31 comeback win over the Chicago Hounds on Saturday.

‍Down 31-12 at the break, Utah came out with purpose on top of a phenomenal amount of aggression and precision en route to scoring 29 straight points to the delight of a packed Zions Bank Stadium.

‍”It was probably the best 40 minutes I’ve seen from the Warriors,” observed Warriors Coach Greg Cooper. “The boys just threw everything they had into that second half, so it was quality. It was a quality second half under pressure and they responded.”

‍Leading off the second half barrage was Tuvere Vugakoto scoring a try off of a maul situation in the 47th minute. Joey Mano followed it up with another try in the 53rd, courtesy of a tremendous run-out and off-load from Joel Hodgson to cut the lead to 31-26.

‍Utah didn’t let up from there, but worked to push the gas pedal even harder.

‍Mano scored another try in the 60th minute off of an offload from Jordan Trainor to give Utah a 33-31 lead before Nic Benn made a physical run to the try line where he dotted it down in the 63rd minute after receiving an offload from D’Angelo Leuila for a 38-31 lead.

‍The teams battled back and forth for much of the next 15 minutes before Hodgson put the game on ice by making good on a long penalty kick to increase the margin to 41-31, which proved to be the final.

‍”It was pressure rugby,” Cooper said. “For Joel Hodgson to step up in the 78th minute and kick that pressure goal which probably took the game away. Anything can happen in two minutes and he took the game away from them. He’s an absolute fighter. That took a lot of courage.”

‍Utah’s 29-0 run in the second half came on the heels of a 31-0 run by Chicago to end the first half, prompting Cooper to get after his boys a bit at the break.

“There were some pretty stern words, to be honest,” Cooper related. “We started the game so well, and then just had those moments again, so we were pretty honest. We asked, ‘Is that us? That last 20 minutes. Was that us?’ And then we just agreed that wasn’t us. We then asked what we’re going to do about it, and we did something about it.”

With the win the Warriors improve to 7-2 on the season with 36 points in the standings and will next take on the visiting San Diego Legion on Wednesday. Chicago drops to 7-3 on the season with the loss.

Utah Royals lose another close game, this time at Houston

Utah Royals FC fell 1-0 to Houston Dash at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston on Friday night.

The loss marks the first to Houston since Utah’s reiteration into the league last season, falling to 1-1-1.

Despite McGlynn stopping multiple one on one opportunities from Houston. The lone goal of the night came for the Houston Dash after an attempted clearance from Thomsen fell at the feet of Delanie Sheehan who found the top right corner of the goal from outside the box.

Utah Royals FC (1-1-4, 4 pts.) return to America First Field next Saturday, May 3, to take on North Carolina Courage. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. MT.