Real Salt Lake-Sounders Preview

Real Salt Lake appears to have a spot in the Western Conference finals all but locked up after a decisive victory over the Seattle Sounders.

The Sounders, though, are still confident they can pull off a stunning comeback when they return home for Wednesday night's final leg of the conference semifinals.

Alvaro Saborio scored a pair of goals and Salt Lake didn't allow the Sounders to record a shot on goal during a 3-0 home victory Saturday.

That result means the 2009 MLS champions can advance to the West finals without needing extra time or penalty kicks as long as they don't lose by three or more goals Wednesday.

Real Salt Lake didn't look like a team that could contend for another title a week and a half ago as it ended the regular season on a six-game winless streak (0-4-2). Seattle, meanwhile, won five of its final six matches.

"I'm sure everybody now is going to change their opinion and tell us how good we are," coach Jason Kreis said. "If we spend too much time reading about that, then we're going to put ourselves in a bad place. We've got to keep our feet on the ground and say it was a good first half but there's a second half to play."

The Sounders are happy to get that second chance and insist their deficit isn't insurmountable.

"The funny thing about this league with the parity is yeah, you can get beat three-nil and the next game you can win three-nil," goalkeeper Kasey Keller told the league's official website.

Keller is entering possibly the last game of a storied career, and coach Sigi Schmid is hoping that his team can give the veteran another chance to play by avoiding the franchise's third straight conference semifinal defeat. Seattle is 0-4-1 all-time in the playoffs.

"We have an opportunity here on Wednesday to come up with a great result," Schmid said. "Hopefully, if we have a result that we want to have, it will be a game that people will remember for a long, long time. That's our objective, to create a game that you're not going to forget for a long time."

The Sounders might be without midfielder Mauro Rosales, who tied for third on the team with five goals in the regular season but is dealing with a sprained knee. Fellow midfielder Alvaro Fernandez, second on Seattle with nine goals, avoided a serious injury after a tackle from RSL defender Robbie Russell on Saturday.

Seattle will face an RSL team that won 2-1 at CenturyLink Field on Sept. 10. Saborio had the go-ahead goal in the 56th minute and Salt Lake also benefited from an early own goal. Fredy Montero had the only score for the Sounders, who are 1-3-2 in their last six matchups with RSL.

Salt Lake, though, lost by three goals in three of its final six regular- season games with two of those results coming on the road. RSL might also have to play without central defenders Jamison Olave (right quad) and Nat Borchers (knee).