Who Starts In Goal For Real Salt Lake When David Ochoa Returns From Injury?

SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake has been without last year’s starting goalkeeper David Ochoa who remains sidelined with an injured quad and so it has been veteran shot-stopper Zac MacMath who has stepped in and performed admirably throughout the opening three weeks of the season.

It is unclear how much longer Ochoa will be unavailable, however, it does not appear or sound like he will be returning to the starting XI anytime soon after manager Pablo Mastroeni admitted that he is yet to train with the team.

MacMath’s tenure in goal this season has been impressive. In the opening two games against Dallas and Seattle, he maintained clean sheets. Then, in the snow and wind in Foxborough, Massachusetts, he allowed the opening goal of the season 225 minutes into the campaign. MacMath has found form and has been playing extremely well.

Assuming MacMath’s form continues, what will happen when Ochoa becomes available for selection?

Who starts in goal when Ochoa returns to full health? If MacMath’s form continues it will make for a very challenging decision.

Mastroeni shares his thoughts 👇#RSL #DaleRSL pic.twitter.com/bfNMAMyRx5

— Tom Hackett (@TomCantHackett) March 17, 2022

“I think that it is a tricky situation,” Mastroeni admitted when asked how he plans on handling the inevitable situation. “I think that David [Ochoa] ended the season last year in a great way and started the majority of the preseason games, but you want to create a competitive environment. What I have learned in managing in the years that I have been doing this, which hasn’t been long, is that you cannot fix problems in the future. Situations in the future will fix themselves, and when that moment comes you deal with it. You do not know all of the variables that go into it, you do not know the run of form, the results…to fix the problem now would be futile and I’ve learned that you can’t do that.”

For now, it will be MacMath as the starting goalkeeper and when Ochoa returns to full health Mastroeni will evaluate the variables and make his determination on the matter. Who knows, maybe by the time Ochoa returns the decision will already be made for Mastroeni.

Next Match

Real Salt Lake will return home to host Nashville next Saturday, March 19, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The fixture will be available to watch via the KSL Sports or KSL 5 TV app or on KSL Sports dot com.