Real Salt Lake Dominates 2024 MLS Award Nominations – Who Made the List?

Real Salt Lake (RSL) is surfing the crest of an outstanding 2024 season, as the team racks up several nominations for the 2024 Major League Soccer (MLS) End-of-Season Awards. All in all, eight players from the club made it to numerous of the league's many elite honors, including seven brilliant players and their head coach, Pablo Mastroeni. Indeed, it has certainly been one heck of a year for the Utah-based team, under the legendary leadership of Mastroeni.

Here’s a closer look at the nominees and their notable contributions to RSL’s success this season:

Cristian Arango (Chicho) - Captain

Cristian Arango, RSL's main goal scorer and team leader, has earned himself a nomination for the Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player award. He has scored 17 goals and assisted in six goals this season, which is a tied record for most scores by one player in a single season in RSL history and equaled Álvaro Saborío's past record. With just one game left to play, Arango can close out this season by shattering his record and becoming one of the league's best forwards.

Pablo Mastroeni.

Pablo Mastroeni is in the running for the Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year award. He became the head coach in 2021 and has turned RSL into a team that can compete for the MLS Cup. Under his guidance, the team has a 15-11-7 record in 2024, doing better than last season. Mastroeni’s team also set a club record by scoring 63 goals, showing how strong their offense is. The team can also break the club's points record if they win their last game against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Matt Crooks and Alex Katranis

To the 2024 season, RSL signed not one, but two players of significance to complement their reputation: Matt Crooks and Alex Katranis. These two must be part of the strong component of RSL's rebuild, as nominees now for MLS Newcomer of the Year.

Crooks is a strong, tall midfielder who not only brought strength to the center of the field but also creativity to that particular area. He has scored six important goals for RSL this season and offers more opportunities to the midfield of the team.

All at the same time, Katranis settled for the left-back and utilized the attack and defense with three goals and three assists. His efforts in fortifying the defense have proven invaluable since RSL had many injuries to its defense during the season.

These two signings say much about how RSL approaches team building-targeted acquisitions, which have strengthened both the defense and the midfield with players who seemed to adjust themselves to MLS.

Diego Luna - The Bright Young Star of RSL

Now, 21-year-old Diego Luna has impressed his way to become one of the league's brightest young talents. The MLS Young Player of the Year award nomination is coming off a breakout season in which he delivered seven goals and eight assists in 30 appearances. His creativity in the final third as well as his ability to beat a man on one-on-one have become pivotal elements of RSL's attacking system.

While enduring a quiet start to the season, especially missing out on a spot with the U.S. U-23 Olympic team, the games that Luna offers are good enough to be called a league star. Nomination comes in support of RSL's methodical development of young players and giving them an opportunity to shine.

Justen Glad

Real Salt Lake has been pretty stout on defense this year, largely because of Justen Glad, who is nominated for MLS Defender of the Year. He's a homegrown product, and his leadership and solid play in the back have been very important, especially during a season with so much injury.

His aerially strong play and game understanding have helped RSL keep nine clean sheets this season. Being not nominated for anything is therefore a testament to how much he does for the team, as well as the league spotting his improvement in being a central defender.

Zac MacMath - A Seasoned Shot-Stopper's Return

Zac MacMath leads the charge for this award because of his season of performances, which have proven him to be among the best of the league. Though he has had a bit of competition from young player Gavin Beavers to some extent and was a part of the times in the field, MacMath played very well with 22 games started, six clean sheets, and only 27 goals allowed. Experience and equanimity in goal have been important for keeping RSL's defense tight throughout the year.

Voting and selection process

In partnership with Canada Soccer and the Dominion our MLS End-of-Season Awards are based on a vote conducted by an anonymous balloting panel of current MLS players, all club technical staff and select media members. Each group's vote will comprise one-third of the total. Voting opens October 7, and will close on October 21, 2024, just after the end of the regular season. Award finalists will be announced on October 24, 2024.

Real Salt Lake's overall nominees reflect the growth and fantastic season that the team witnessed in the 2024 MLS season. The team, owing to its excellence on every ground on the pitch and Mastroeni's acumen from a tactical end guiding the squad, is well and truly entrenched as a rising force in Major League Soccer.