SANDY, Utah (ABC 4 Sports) - There is no way to sugarcoat a 5-0 loss, and Real Salt Lake isn't trying to.
Following the worst loss in the Jason Kreis era, RSL (11-7-3) is trying to move on and focus on Saturday's match against Colorado.
"You just forget about it," said goalkeeper Nick Rimando. "I'm not even thinking about that game. Those games happen. They don't happen here that much, so it hurts for sure. The best thing to do is remember it, but at the same time just forget about it and move forward."
"You're never as good as you think you are," said defender Nat Borchers. "But you're never as bad as you think you are. We should expect great things from ourselves, and our fans should expect great things from us. When we don't deliver, then people should ask questions."
When a team like RSL, which has been at the top of the standings for much of the season, falls flat like they did against the Earthquakes, criticism is going to pour in, despite the fact they gave up four of the five goals after Kyle Beckerman received a red card. But the team says they thrive on people's doubts. They seem to play better when they've been written off.
"We like being the underdog," said Borchers. "We seem to play better in that roll for some reason."
"Listen, there are a lot of games left in the season," said head coach Jason Kreis. "There's a lot left for us to win. We're still in a very good place, but we've got to move forward quickly."
"We put those expectations on ourselves," said Rimando. "It took a while to build a franchise like we have here and we expect to win all the time."
"We're one of the best teams in the league," added Borchers. "We believe that. We just need to go out now and prove it."
It all starts Saturday against Colorado. The game kicks off at 8:00 p.m. at Rio Tinto Stadium and can be watched on CW30.
