Sounders fall to Real Salt Lake in 2-1 road loss

Teenager Aiden Hezarkhani scored his first career goal and Ariath Piol scored early in the second half as Real Salt Lake beat the Seattle Sounders 2-1.

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Feb 28, 2026, 7:29 PM

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Seattle Sounders Jesús Ferreira February 2026...

Seattle Sounders forward Jesús Ferreira during a February 2026 match. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SANDY, Utah (AP) — Teenager Aiden Hezarkhani scored his first career goal, Ariath Piol scored early in the second half and Real Salt Lake continued to dominate the Seattle Sounders at home with a 2-1 victory on Saturday.

Real Salt Lake 2, Seattle Sounders 1: Match detail

Real Salt Lake (1-1-0) improves to 14-1-4 in MLS matches when the Sounders (1-1-0) visit America First Field. Seattle hasn’t won in Sandy since winning a U.S. Open Cup match in 2016.

Hezarkhani staked Real Salt Lake to a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute, scoring with assists from defender Juan Manuel Sanabria — in his league debut — and Luca Moisa. Hezarkhani, 18, played 57 minutes in two appearances last season.

Piol made it 2-0 two minutes into the second half with assists from 18-year-old Zavier Gozo and defender Philip Quinton. Piol had a goal and two assists in 24 appearances as a rookie last season. Quinton’s assist was his first in 50 career appearances. Gozo’s assist was his first this season and fourth in 29 career appearances.

Seattle cut its deficit to a goal when Cristian Roldan took a pass from Albert Rusnák and found the net in the 62nd minute.

That was it for the Sounders in their first match since learning Jordan Morris would miss four to six weeks with a quad injury he suffered eight minutes into a season-opening 2-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids in Seattle.

Rafael Cabral saved eight shots for Real Salt Lake as the 35-year-old begins his second season in the league.

Andrew Thomas finished with two saves for the Sounders as mainstay Stefan Frei moves into a backup role.