Three wins in a week propelled RSL from the cellar, below the red line, back into playoff contention. If you can pull that off in Major League Soccer, that’s precisely what happens. You rocket up the standings. Coming off a 2-0 win over Seattle on June 4 — the second time RSL had topped their West rivals from the Northwest — RSL was an astonishing 14 points clear of the back-to-back MLS Cup finalists.
As they tend to do, however, the Sounders eventually found themselves after yet another rocky start. And as RSL’s miserable road form continues into the dog days of summer, suddenly that cushion to kick off the summer has nearly evaporated.