# 2023 Real Salt Lake season

The 2023 Real Salt Lake season was the team's 19th season in Major League Soccer, the top division of the American soccer pyramid. The team also competed in both the 2023 U.S. Open Cup and 2023 Leagues Cup. Real Salt Lake played their home games at America First Field in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, and was managed by Pablo Mastroeni in his second full season with the club.

## Club
### Roster

    As of June 30, 2023,
| No. | Name | Nationality | Positions | Date of birth (age) | Signed from | Seasons with club (year signed) |
| 2 | Andrew Brody | United States | DF | (1995-05-03) May 3, 1995 (age 29) | Real Monarchs | 3 (2021) |
| 3 | Bryan Oviedo | Costa Rica | DF | (1990-02-18) February 18, 1990 (age 34) | FC Copenhagen | 2 (2022) |
| 4 | Brayan Vera | Colombia | DF | (1999-01-15) January 15, 1999 (age 25) | América de Cali | 1 (2023) |
| 6 | Braian Ojeda | Paraguay | MF | (2000-06-27) June 27, 2000 (age 24) | Nottingham Forest (loan) | 2 (2022) |
| 7 | Pablo Ruíz | Argentina | MF | (1998-12-20) December 20, 1998 (age 25) | San Luis | 6 (2018) |
| 8 | Damir Kreilach (DP) | Croatia | MF | (1989-04-16) April 16, 1989 (age 35) | Union Berlin | 6 (2018) |
| 9 | Chicho Arango (DP) | Colombia | FW | (1995-03-09) March 9, 1995 (age 29) | C.F. Pachuca | 1 (2023) |
| 10 | Jefferson Savarino (DP) | Venezuela | FW | (1996-11-11) November 11, 1996 (age 27) | Atletico Mineiro | 5 (2017, 2022) |
| 11 | Andrés Gómez | Colombia | FW | (2002-09-12) September 12, 2002 (age 22) | Millonarios F.C. | 1 (2023) |
| 12 | Scott Caldwell | United States | MF | (1991-03-15) March 15, 1991 (age 33) | New England Revolution | 2 (2022) |
| 13 | Nelson Palacio | Colombia | MF | (2001-06-16) June 16, 2001 (age 23) | Atlético Nacional | 1 (2023) |
| 14 | Rubio Rubin | Guatemala | FW | (1996-03-01) March 1, 1996 (age 28) | San Diego Loyal SC | 3 (2021) |
| 15 | Justen Glad (HGP) | United States | DF | (1997-02-28) February 28, 1997 (age 27) | Real Salt Lake Academy (HGP) | 10 (2014) |
| 16 | Maikel Chang | Cuba | MF | (1991-04-18) April 18, 1991 (age 33) | Real Monarchs | 4 (2020) |
| 17 | Danny Musovski | United States | FW | (1995-11-30) November 30, 1995 (age 28) | Los Angeles FC | 2 (2022) |
| 18 | Zac MacMath | United States | GK | (1991-08-07) August 7, 1991 (age 33) | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 4 (2020) |
| 19 | Bode Hidalgo | United States | FW | (2002-02-22) February 22, 2002 (age 22) | Real Monarchs | 3 (2021) |
| 20 | Erik Holt (HGP) | United States | DF | (1996-09-06) September 6, 1996 (age 28) | Real Salt Lake Academy (HGP) | 5 (2019) |
| 22 | Delentz Pierre (HGP) | Haiti | DF | (2000-12-16) December 16, 2000 (age 23) | Portland Pilots (HGP) | 1 (2023) |
| 23 | Ilijah Paul (GA) | United States | FW | (2002-07-26) July 26, 2002 (age 22) | Washington Huskies | 1 (2023) |
| 24 | Tomas Gomez | United States | GK | (1993-05-20) May 20, 1993 (age 31) | Real Monarchs | 2 (2022) |
| 25 | Emeka Eneli | United States | MF | (1999-10-18) October 18, 1999 (age 24) | Cornell Big Red | 1 (2023) |
| 26 | Diego Luna | United States | MF | (2003-09-03) September 3, 2003 (age 21) | El Paso Locomotive | 2 (2022) |
| 27 | Bertin Jacquesson (GA) | France | FW | (2001-11-30) November 30, 2001 (age 22) | Pittsburgh Panthers | 1 (2023) |
| 28 | Jasper Löeffelsend | Germany | DF | (1997-09-10) September 10, 1997 (age 27) | Pittsburgh Panthers | 2 (2022) |
| 29 | Anderson Julio | Ecuador | FW | (1996-05-31) May 31, 1996 (age 28) | Atlético San Luis | 3 (2021) |
| 30 | Marcelo Silva | Uruguay | DF | (1989-03-21) March 21, 1989 (age 35) | Real Zaragoza | 7 (2017) |
| 31 | Axel Kei (HGP) | Ivory Coast | FW | (2007-12-30) December 30, 2007 (age 16) | Real Salt Lake Academy (HGP) | 2 (2022) |
| 32 | Zack Farnsworth (HGP) | United States | DF | (2002-07-13) July 13, 2002 (age 22) | Real Salt Lake Academy (HGP) | 3 (2021) |
| 33 | Moses Nyeman | United States | MF | (2003-11-05) November 5, 2003 (age 20) | S.K. Beveren (loan) | 1 (2023) |
| 35 | Gavin Beavers (HGP) | United States | GK | (2005-04-29) April 29, 2005 (age 19) | Real Monarchs (HGP) | 2 (2022) |
| 37 | Luis Rivera (HGP) | United States | DF | (2007-12-01) December 1, 2007 (age 16) | Real Monarchs | 1 (2023) |
| 38 | Jude Wellings (HGP) | United States | MF | (2006-04-26) April 26, 2006 (age 18) | Real Monarchs (HGP) | 2 (2022) |

### Transfers

    As of June 10, 2023'

#### In

| Player | Position | Previous Club | Fees/Notes | Date |
| Ilijah Paul | FW | Washington Huskies | 2023 MLS SuperDraft; Generation adidas | December 21, 2022 |
| Bertin Jacquesson | FW | Pittsburgh Panthers | 2023 MLS SuperDraft; Generation adidas | December 21, 2022 |
| Luis Rivera | DF | Real Monarchs | Homegrown player | January 6, 2023 |
| Delentz Pierre | DF | Portland Pilots | Homegrown player | January 6, 2023 |
| Andrés Gómez | FW | Millonarios | Undisclosed | January 10, 2023 |
| Brayan Vera | DF | América de Cali | Undisclosed | February 10, 2023 |
| Emeka Eneli | MF | Cornell Big Red | 2023 MLS SuperDraft | March 24, 2023 |
| Chicho Arango | FW | C.F. Pachuca | Designated Player | June 10, 2023 |
| Nelson Palacio | MF | Atlético Nacional | Undisclosed | June 28, 2023 |

#### Out

| Player | Position | Next Club | Fees/Notes | Date |
| Nick Besler | MF | | Option Declined | October 26, 2022 |
| Chris Garcia | FW | El Paso Locomotive | Option Declined | October 26, 2022 |
| Bret Halsey | DF | FC Cincinnati 2 | Option Declined | October 26, 2022 |
| Johan Kappelhof | DF | Safa SC | Option Declined | October 26, 2022 |
| Tate Schmitt | FW | Houston Dynamo | Option Declined | October 26, 2022 |
| Bobby Wood | FW | New England Revolution | Option Declined | October 26, 2022 |
| Aaron Herrera | DF | CF Montréal | $500,000 GAM + additional | December 21, 2022 |
| Sergio Córdova | FW | FC Augsburg | End of loan; returned to parent club | January 5, 2023 |
| Jeff Dewsnup | GK | Retired | Retired | January 7, 2023 |
| Justin Meram | FW | Charlotte FC | $200,000 GAM + additional | April 27, 2023 |
| Jonathan Menéndez | FW | Aris | Mutually Parted Ways | July 3, 2023 |

### Loans
#### In

| Player | Position | Loaned From | Fees/Notes | Date |
| Moses Nyeman | MF | S.K. Beveren | Loan for entire 2023 season | February 20, 2023 |

#### Out

| Player | Position | Loaned To | Fees/Notes | Date |
| Jaziel Orozco | DF | Santos Laguna | Loan for entire 2023 season | February 2, 2023 |
| Jonathan Menéndez | FW | Newell's Old Boys | Loan for entire 2023 season | February 6, 2023 |
| Julio Benitez | MF | Forward Madison FC | Loan for entire 2023 season | February 14, 2023 |

## Competitions
### MLS regular season
#### Matches
#### Standings
##### Western Conference table

MLS Western Conference table (2023) :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | St. Louis City SC | 34 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 62 | 45 | +17 | 56 | Qualification for round one and the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round One |
| 2 | Seattle Sounders FC | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 41 | 32 | +9 | 53 | Qualification for round one |
| 3 | Los Angeles FC | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 54 | 39 | +15 | 52 | Qualification for round one |
| 4 | Houston Dynamo FC | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 51 | 38 | +13 | 51 | Qualification for round one |
| 5 | Real Salt Lake | 34 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 48 | 50 | −2 | 50 | Qualification for round one |
| 6 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 55 | 48 | +7 | 48 | Qualification for round one |
| 7 | FC Dallas | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 41 | 37 | +4 | 46 | Qualification for round one |
| 8 | Sporting Kansas City | 34 | 12 | 14 | 8 | 48 | 51 | −3 | 44 | Qualification for the wild-card round |
| 9 | San Jose Earthquakes | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 39 | 43 | −4 | 44 | Qualification for the wild-card round |
| 10 | Portland Timbers | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 46 | 58 | −12 | 43 | |
| 11 | Minnesota United FC | 34 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 46 | 51 | −5 | 41 | |
| 12 | Austin FC | 34 | 10 | 15 | 9 | 49 | 55 | −6 | 39 | |
| 13 | LA Galaxy | 34 | 8 | 14 | 12 | 51 | 67 | −16 | 36 | |
| 14 | Colorado Rapids | 34 | 5 | 17 | 12 | 26 | 54 | −28 | 27 | |

##### Overall table

Overall MLS standings table :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 9 | Houston Dynamo FC (U) | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 51 | 38 | +13 | 51 | Qualification for the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round One and U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 |
| 10 | Atlanta United FC | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 66 | 53 | +13 | 51 | Qualification for the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 |
| 11 | Real Salt Lake | 34 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 48 | 50 | −2 | 50 | Qualification for the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 |
| 12 | Nashville SC | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 39 | 32 | +7 | 49 | Qualification for the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round One |
| 13 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC (V) | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 55 | 48 | +7 | 48 | Qualification for the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round One |
* ↑ Qualify for both the Champions Cup and U.S. Open Cup as 2023 U.S. Open Cup champions
* ↑ As one of the top seven teams in the overall table to not qualify for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup
* ↑ As 2023 Leagues Cup runner-up
* ↑ As 2023 Canadian Championship winners

### Leagues Cup

The Leagues Cup will occur between July 21 and August 19, with all MLS teams competing and regular season play being suspended. Real Salt Lake will enter in the group stage as a seeded team, based on 2022 standings.

#### West 2

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MON | RSL | SEA |
| 1 | Monterrey | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 3–0 | 4–2 |
| 2 | Real Salt Lake | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage | — | — | 3–0 |
| 3 | Seattle Sounders FC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 0 | | — | — | — |

#### Knockout round
### U.S. Open Cup

Real Salt Lake entered the Open Cup in the Third Round, based on 2022 standings.

## Statistics
### Squad appearances

As of November 11, 2023
| No | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | MLS Regular Season | MLS Regular Season | Leagues Cup | Leagues Cup | US Open Cup | US Open Cup | MLS Cup Playoffs | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| No | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Starts | Apps | Starts | Apps | Starts | Apps | Starts | Apps | Starts |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 18 | GK | | Zac MacMath | 35 | 35 | 28 | 28 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 35 | GK | | Gavin Beavers | 12 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | GK | | Tomas Gomez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | | Andrew Brody | 37 | 32 | 29 | 25 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | DF | | Brayan Vera | 32 | 32 | 24 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 15 | DF | | Justen Glad | 42 | 40 | 32 | 31 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 20 | DF | | Erik Holt | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | | Delentz Pierre | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | | Marcelo Silva | 22 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | DF | | Zack Farnsworth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | DF | | Bryan Oviedo | 34 | 26 | 25 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 49 | DF | | Luis Rivera | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 6 | MF | | Pablo Ruíz | 25 | 23 | 17 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | | Damir Kreilach | 33 | 19 | 27 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | | Scott Caldwell | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | | Nelson Palacio | 16 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 16 | MF | | Maikel Chang | 29 | 16 | 22 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | MF | | Bode Hidalgo | 30 | 16 | 23 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 | MF | | Emeka Eneli | 31 | 23 | 21 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 26 | MF | | Diego Luna | 32 | 22 | 23 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 28 | MF | | Jasper Löffelsend | 26 | 16 | 21 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | MF | | Kevon Lambert | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | | Moses Nyeman | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | MF | | Jude Wellings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | MF | | Zavier Gozo | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | MF | | Braian Ojeda | 42 | 32 | 30 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | | Chicho Arango | 18 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | | Jefferson Savarino | 34 | 32 | 24 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 11 | FW | | Andrés Gómez | 40 | 21 | 30 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 14 | FW | | Rubio Rubin | 31 | 17 | 22 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 23 | FW | | Ilijah Paul | 9 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | | Bertin Jacquesson | 12 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | | Anderson Julio | 38 | 15 | 28 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 31 | FW | | Axel Kei | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | FW | | Danny Musovski | 34 | 18 | 24 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Other players (Departed during season, short-term loan, etc.) ||||||||||||||
| | FW | | Jonathan Menéndez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | | Justin Meram | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | | Julio Benitez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | DF | | Jaziel Orozco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goals

    As of November 11, 2023

### Assists

    As of June 15, 2023

### Clean Sheets

    As of November 11, 2023