RSL faces tight schedule of 3 games in 8 days

Sandy • Jason Kreis was at a loss.

For the second time in nearly as many weeks, the Real Salt Lake coach must steer his team through potential trouble — three games in eight days.

RSL (7-3-0) took care of the first leg, beating visiting New England in a 2-1 high-wire act Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium. Real now plays a pair of road games, at Chicago on Wednesday and Seattle on Saturday.

"I'll have to sleep on it," Kreis said. "I am considering some rotation. I do think that playing three games is very difficult on the players. We did it last week, and I think we did pretty well. Towards the end of that third match, we had some guys that were really dying, but we also have some other players that have contributed and need the opportunity."

All Kreis desires is continued aggressive play, the style that has allowed RSL — now tied with San Jose atop the Western Conference table — to overcome a number of potentially disastrous situations, like Saturday night against the Revolution.

New England's Blake Brettscneider scored a stunner early while New England goalkeeper Matt Reis was stopping everything coming his way. It is a tribute to the Revolution keeper that RSL was held to a pair of goals, both by Alvaro Saborio.

Fortunately for RSL, its keeper, Nick Rimando, played just as well.

"We knew what we had to do — just sit in, stay disciplined and counter," RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "We just stayed in there. Nick made some great saves, and we were able to pull it off. It was a crazy game. We were able to do that more than they were, and we were able to get in an extra goal."

Although RSL has yet to play a complete 90 minutes — the victory against Colorado, Kreis acknowledged, was as close as Real has come to it — the attitude has remained positive.

It's a glass half full for RSL, but maybe the glass is a bit chipped.

"I want us to continue to be aggressive and continue to take our chances," Kreis said. "If [shots] go in, fantastic, and if they don't, hopefully that'll build us some sort of momentum that will pay dividends as the match goes on."

martyr@sltrib.comTwitter: @tribmarty —

Hitting the road

• RSL is in the midst of three games in eight days, traveling to Chicago on Wednesday and to Seattle on Saturday.

• With Saturday's 2-1 victory against New England, RSL moved into a tie with San Jose at the top of the Western Conference.