Ex-RSL star Cristian Arango leads Quakes in season opener

A top-three team in the Western Conference last season, Real Salt Lake will hit the road to play its 2025 MLS season opener against the revamped San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.

Real Salt Lake lost a pair of matchups in penalty kicks during Round One of the MLS playoffs last season and were eliminated by No. 6-seed Minnesota United.

RSL scored just one goal in the best-of-three series and it came from Emeka Eneli in the 75th minute of the second game. The offensive flameout came after the club finished tied for second in the Western Conference with 65 goals in the regular season.

Only four MLS clubs were better than RSL's plus-17 goal differential.

Though RSL traded Chicho Arango to the Earthquakes in January, Foster Ajago was acquired in the MLS Re-Entry Draft from Nashville SC the same month and Elias Manoel arrived from the New York Red Bulls in a trade in December.

In a CONCACAF Champions Cup opener Wednesday, RSL played to a scoreless draw against Costa Rica champion CS Herediano. Defender Justen Glad did not start because of a nagging injury but came on as a late substitute.

"My ask of the guys was, 'We have to compete like we're in the middle of the season,'" RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni said of facing Herediano, who not only was the home team but already was 10 games into its regular season. "There were a lot of moments that were (sloppy) but what I was looking for was the mentality and to compete the right way."

The Earthquakes have welcomed aboard Arango, who scored 17 goals with 12 assists with RSL last season and has 53 goals with 21 assists in four MLS seasons. However, he did not score over the final 10 games last season after he was suspended for violating the MLS anti-harassment policy.

Former MLS MVP Josef Martinez signed with San Jose in free agency and is seventh all-time in MLS with 116 goals in 184 games.

Making it all come together will be veteran head coach and sporting director Bruce Arena, a five-time MLS Cup champion who has been the head coach with DC United, the Red Bulls, Los Angeles Galaxy and New England Revolution.

"It's going to take some time," Arena said about his new club. "Our league doesn't really start to get into action until really August. We have to survive the early going and be a team that is more competitive than it was last year."

--Field Level Media