By almost any measure, the 2016 MLS season has been a success for Real Salt Lake, a team from which not a lot was expected after it missed the playoffs last year for just the second time since 2007. Then Jeff Cassar's aging squad, one that appeared on the brink of a rebuild, surprised out of the gates by winning four of their first six games. They've comfortably occupied a postseason spot in the standings ever since -- not bad for a team that finished ninth in the Western Conference 12 months ago.
Now, RSL heads into Sunday's "Decision Day" tilt against the Sounders in Seattle (4 p.m. ET, ESPN/WatchESPN) sitting fourth out West, just above their hosts and in good position to secure a knockout game in Utah next week. A tie this weekend might be enough. Only a win will guarantee a playoff berth, though, and getting one in Seattle won't be easy. The Sounders also need three points after losing last week in Dallas.
CenturyLink Field is one of the most difficult places for opponents to visit, and above all, RSL will arrive in the Pacific Northwest suffering a crisis of offensive confidence. In their past five games, they've managed just one goal, and that has contributed to an 0-3-3 swoon that has turned Sunday's match into a potential do-or-die affair. It leaves the legacy of the team's rebound season hanging in the balance.
"If we don't make the playoffs, it's an extreme disappointment without a doubt," Cassar told ESPN FC in a phone interview. "The goal from the beginning of the season has been to get into the playoffs since we missed them last year.
"But we're still in position to do that," he added.
That's not to say Cassar isn't concerned with the lack of scoring or how it has impacted the psyche of his squad at the most crucial time of the season.
"The confidence can't be that high right now because we haven't scored," he said. "I wish I had the magic answer for why. But we have belief in our players to come through in a big game on Sunday. I told them that it's in us. We're not asking for anything that we're incapable of doing because we've shown what we're capable of earlier this year."
Logically, this recent absence of end product has upped the burden on RSL's more defensive-oriented players and goalkeeper Nick Rimando. Yet veteran left-back Chris Wingert doesn't necessarily see it that way.
"Playing defense is a team thing, and it's the same with scoring goals," Wingert said. "I think our best defense is our possession. That's been RSL soccer over the years.
"I actually think this is the best attacking group that we've had in the nine years that I've been here," he continued. "We haven't been scoring lately, but that's how it goes sometimes. I can easily see us snapping out of that this weekend and making a run."
That's the same optimistic message Cassar has repeated this week. There have been lots of change within Real Salt Lake in recent years -- the three-pronged leadership core of owner David Checketts, GM Garth Lagerwey and coach Jason Kreis that led the small market outfit to the 2009 MLS Cup is long gone now -- but third-year boss Cassar, Kreis' longtime assistant, has carried on the Team-as-Star mantra.
The presence of franchise icons Rimando, playmaker Javier Morales and captain Kyle Beckerman has helped maintain the locker room culture, as has the return of Wingert (from New York City FC), Yura Movsisyan (Spartak Moscow) and center back Jamison Olave, who spent 2013-14 with the New York Red Bulls. All six were on the field when RSL, as the West's fifth seed, beat the LA Galaxy on penalties to hoist the hardware six years ago. Optimism is ingrained within the group.
"We should feel good about where we're at," Cassar said. "It's one game. If we play to our ability, we're going to get the desired result."
They won't stop there if they do. "We've had success against the top teams, so will be confident if we get in," Wingert said. "It was the same thing in 2009.
"We know as well as anyone that once the playoffs start, it's a new season, and anybody has a chance to win it all."