Real Salt Lake brush off season-opening loss, visit St. Louis

After dropping their season opener on the road against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on Wednesday night, Real Salt Lake will stay on the road and pay a visit to St. Louis City SC on Saturday.

While most of the national attention has been fixed on the winners of that match in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Salt Lake (0-1-0, 0 points) defender Justen Glad remains focused on his side.

"I feel like that was a game that, if we capitalize on one or two moments, then it's a totally different storyline," Glad said. "We were all looking forward to it, but the whole team here believes that we're up for any game, any opponent, any player. It doesn't matter who we play, so I think it was just another game for us."

Real Salt Lake managed just a pair of shots on goal in the 2-0 loss, which ended a league-record streak of 14 consecutive unbeaten season openers for the club. Salt Lake has never lost its first two fixtures of a season.

In CONCACAF Champions Cup play Tuesday, St. Louis City had its first game action of the season in a 2-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo.

Earlier that day, St. Louis signed Wake Forest product Hosei Kijima, who it traded up to draft 17th overall in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. The club also inked Providence College's Brendan McSorley.

"We're excited for both Hosei and Brendan to begin their professional careers with us after a successful preseason," St. Louis sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel said in a release. "Both players have adapted well to the team culture and principles, and we look forward to helping them reach their full potential."

Kijima made an instant impact against Houston. He subbed in late and scored the winning goal for St. Louis in the 90th minute.

Jumping into its second go-round of league play, St. Louis will aim to enjoy a similar start as last year, when it came out on the right side of its first five fixtures. That was the first time such a feat had been accomplished by an expansion team in league history.