Real Salt Lake's 'snow game' win brings chaos, controversy to MLS
On an ordinary day, a Major League Soccer match between Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles FC wouldn't turn many heads. But Saturday was no ordinary day.
In snowy conditions at home, Salt Lake beat LAFC 3-0. The game started as a chilly, high-altitude fixture and devolved into a wild, wonderful mess. Snow began falling around the fifth minute. By the 20th, whiteout conditions took over, forcing groundskeepers to sprint about the park with shovels to clear off field lines whenever they could.
"Trying to maintain a safe, playable surface for the guys is what we want the most," Salt Lake groundskeeper Dan Farnes said, per The Athletic. "We don't make those decisions about playing the game ... all we can do is shovel the lines and that's it."
Fans often wonder why MLS doesn't play on the traditional European August-to-May calendar. Saturday's Salt Lake snow game is the answer.
If MLS can't rely on weather in March, then it certainly can't play clear through the ski season in the winter. Clubs such as Salt Lake, Minnesota, New England, Vancouver, Montréal, Toronto and more would face intense weather challenges if they played then.
For LAFC — a team unaccustomed to altitude such as Salt Lake City's (roughly 4,440 feet) and snow — Saturday's game was a night to forget.
"My lower back is killing me," L.A. defender Ryan Hollingshead said after the match, per The Athletic. "It's just like trying to run on an ice rink. You're sliding and slipping the whole time. The whole goal is just to not fall over and hurt yourself.
"It will absolutely be taken to the players association. I know our rep will be having that conversation immediately."
But for Salt Lake, the game proved that mentality matters just as much as skill in a league as unpredictable as MLS.
"You don't prepare by training in it, right?" Salt Lake coach Pablo Mastroeni said of the blizzard, via the MLS website. "And I think the team that quickly adapts to the circumstances around them and controls the controllables has a better chance in it. It wasn't easy for either team."
He has a point. Salt Lake doesn't train through the winter months and has no more experience with snow games than LAFC does. Its goal-scorers, Andrés Gómez and Cristian "Chicho" Arango, grew up in Colombia, not in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Their strong performances in the blizzard came down to their willingness to play in it.
When the final whistle blew, Real Salt Lake celebrated the best way it knew how: by making snow angels as the blizzard raged.
Salt Lake, now fourth in the Western Conference, continues its MLS season Saturday at home against the Colorado Rapids. LAFC will next play at Sporting KC on Saturday.
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