SANDY, Utah — Sergi Solans and Zach Booth scored early and Real Salt Lake clinched a playoff spot while eliminating the Galaxy with a 2-1 victory Saturday.
Real Salt Lake (13-15-6) snags the ninth and final postseason berth in the Western Conference and will travel to Seattle for a wild-card matchup with the Sounders. The winner will square off against the top-seeded Vancouver Whitecaps in the best-of-three first round.
The Galaxy (11-12-11) have missed the past two postseasons after winning the MLS Cup in 2024.
Solans and Booth scored three minutes apart to give Real Salt Lake a 2-0 lead in the 13th minute.
Solans used assists from Noel Caliskan and defender Philip Quinton in the 10th minute to score for the 14th time in his first season in the league. Nine of Caliskan’s 11 career assists and all three of Quinton’s have come this year.
Booth scored unassisted three minutes later for a 2-0 lead. It was the first goal for the 22-year-old rookie midfielder in his 18th appearance and seventh start.
The Galaxy cut it to 2-1 in the 40th minute thanks to an own goal by Real Salt Lake defender Luc de Fougerolles, making his seventh appearance in the league.
Rafael Cabral totaled one save for Real Salt Lake.
JT Marcinkowski saved six shots for the Galaxy.