St. Louis boss Damet eyes more glory after first trophy: 'Let's see how far we can go in year one'
Damet savours historic silverware but wants more
St. Louis City SC head coach Yoann Damet says he wants to see "how far we can go in year one" after his side delivered the club's first-ever trophy.
St. Louis defeated the Columbus Crew on penalties midweek to win the U.S. Open Cup, securing their maiden silverware and a place in next season's Concacaf Champions Cup. As reported on October 22, the final finished goalless before St. Louis prevailed 5-4 in the shootout, with backup goalkeeper Ben Lundt saving Columbus' opening spot kick and Daniel Edelman converting the decisive penalty — ending the city's 38-year wait for a major U.S. soccer title, its first since 1988.
"Listen, it means a lot for the club," Damet said. "Obviously, it's the fourth year of existence of the club. You always want to fill the trophy cabinet. But it takes time; it's not easy. Success is not built overnight. So we started the year thinking: let's implement a clear vision, a clear identity of how we want to do things, and let's see how far we can go in year one.
"I'm super happy that these guys are going to be remembered to be the first doing it for the club. It's amazing. I hope we will all look back in 20, 50 years, and be really proud of what we've accomplished together. We wanted to write the history for the club."
Form check: unbeaten run snapped at Minnesota
The triumph caps a remarkable campaign in MLS, where St. Louis strung together a 19-game unbeaten run to climb to second in the Western Conference. That streak came to an end with a 3-2 defeat at Minnesota United — the first time St. Louis have ever lost an MLS match in which they led by multiple goals at half-time (W15 D3 prior to that game).
Weekend test against Real Salt Lake
Damet's side face Real Salt Lake this weekend, with the coach pushing his team to achieve even more in 2026. RSL sit three points off the playoff places in the West with four games remaining. They beat Sporting Kansas City 3-1 last time out and have now won two of their last four (D1 L1) after losing each of their previous four. RSL scored twice inside the opening 15 minutes against Sporting KC — only the second time this MLS season they have netted two goals in the first quarter-hour (also versus San Diego FC).
Players to watch
Real Salt Lake — Noel Caliskan & Morgan Guilavogui: Guilavogui scored just two career MLS goals before his brace against Sporting Kansas City. Noel Caliskan has provided the primary assist on each of Guilavogui's last three goals, with half of Caliskan's primary assists this season coming on Guilavogui strikes.
St. Louis City — Rafael Navarro: Navarro has registered multiple goal contributions in four of his eight MLS matches with St. Louis, including a goal and an assist on Saturday. Since the beginning of September, his 11 goal contributions (eight goals, three assists) rank second in MLS (Antoine Griezmann — 12).
Head-to-head and prediction
The first meeting between the sides was a 4-0 St. Louis road win in March 2023, but Salt Lake are unbeaten in the six matches in the fixture since (W3 D3) — tied for RSL's longest regular-season unbeaten streak against any opponent (also versus Sporting KC and Austin FC).
Opta win probability: Real Salt Lake 33.1%, Draw 25.6%, St. Louis City 41.3%. The model leans toward a draw.