SANDY, Utah -- Real Salt Lake is in rare territory. Before this season, U.S. Open Cup matches were not synonymous with success for the MLS club. RSL experienced early exits more often than victories in the nations oldest soccer tournament. It has been a completely different story this time around, and Salt Lake took another big step to winning the cup Wednesday night. Alvaro Saborio scored once and assisted on Joao Platas goal to lead RSL to a 2-1 victory over the Portland Timbers. RSL will host DC United in the championship game Oct. 1 after United beat the Chicago Fire 2-0 earlier in the evening. The winner of the final will qualify for a spot in the 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League. Salt Lake started on the right foot by attacking relentlessly in the opening moments and it paid off with Saborios goal in the 7th minute. "Scoring early is big for us," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "We reward ourselves from the momentum that we create at the beginning of the match. It is always important. Weve done a good job of that lately." Khari Stephenson forced a corner kick with a shot from distance to set up the scoring play. Following the corner kick, Kyle Beckerman sent a cross into Saborio on the left side of the 6-yard box. He then redirected a header back toward the right post and the ball bounced off the post and in. "It was a very important goal because we needed to score early," Saborio said. "Kyle gave me a very good cross and I got in a good header." Strong play from Nick Rimando kept Portland from answering in the first half. The Timbers got into scoring position several times, but came away empty after some clutch saves from Rimando. The biggest came in the 40th minute when Will Johnson kicked a right-footer down the centre of the box. It looked like a sure goal, but Rimando managed to poke the ball away with his fingertips at the last minute. "I need to figure out what hes eating so I can eat the same thing," Kreis said. Ryan Johnson had another good chance for Portland when he uncorked a header during first-half stoppage time. The ball bounced off the left post. Portland did all the things it needed to do to be in control by halftime. The Timbers dominated possession. They created more shots and put the RSL defence on its heels more often. But finding the finishing touch was a problem. Still, Portland coach Caleb Porter saw some positive trends his team can take back into league play. "Possession doesnt win you games," Porter said. "Shots dont win you games. But if you look at those trends and the stats of how were playing in the flow of the game, theres not major issues. Theres not major things to be alarmed with." Salt Lake finally got another goal from Plata in the 78th minute. Saborio flicked the ball up to Plata outside the top of the box and the reserve forward sent it right back down the middle. RSL has scored 13 goals in four Open Cup matches, the best rate of any team in the tournament. Portland cut the lead in half in the 90th minute. Rimando blocked a shot from Diego Valeri and Valeri collected it on the rebound. He headed the ball back over Rimandos head to bring the Timbers within striking distance. It was too little too late for Portland, which saw its franchise-best run in the U.S. Open Cup end. Now the attention for the Timbers shifts to qualifying for the MLS playoffs. "Were disappointed, but at the end of the day we still have everything to play for in the league," Porter said. "This loss doesnt change that."Customized Arizona Cardinals Jersey . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. Josh Rosen Black Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. 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In that game, Zdeno Chara put a check on Tommy Wingels that clearly targeted his head.PHILADELPHIA -- The day after allowing six goals in a lopsided loss, Steve Mason was supposed to be given the night off.Instead, he was thrown into injury relief duty and helped the Flyers pull out a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.Brayden Schenn scored the tiebreaking goal at 8:43 of the third period, and Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto also scored to help the Flyers snap a three-game skid.Mason finished with 19 saves after replacing Michael Neuvirth, who stopped six of seven shots before leaving after the first period due to an apparent injury.Its tiring being embarrassed game after game, said Mason, who was in goal in a 6-3 loss at Toronto the previous night. So you just try to find something to build off of. I just have to keep working here. You get two points here and you focus on the next task at hand and thats exactly what Im going to do.Masons last stop was a left pad save on Eric Staal in the closing seconds.It was a great save coming across, Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said, but that sense of urgency shouldnt happen just in the last 3 minutes of the game.Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said Mason, who had not won since Oct. 25, needed a game like this.I hope it continues to boost his confidence, but Mase has nothing to be embarrassed about, Hakstol said. He shows up and he battles hard every day. Things might not have gone as well as he would have liked early on, but thats the game. When one part of the team isnt going great every other part has to pick that piece up a little bit.Nino Niederreiter and Mikael Granlund scored for the Wild, who lost for the third time in four games. Devan Dubnyk had 33 saves.On the go-ahead score, Wayne Simmonds put a between-the-legs pass from behind the net onto Schenns stick and Schenn waited for Dubnyk to go down before firing the puck over him for his third of the season -- all on the power play.The goal snapped Schenns seven-game scoring drought and came with Wild captain Mikko Koivu in the penalty box for tripping Flyers left wing Michael Raffl behind the net. The Wild entered the game with the NHLs fifth-ranked penalty kill, but the Flyers, ranked second on the man-advantage, connected.Dubnyk said the Wild missed an assignment on Schenns goal.dddddddddddd Theyve now allowed three power-play goals in the past three games.You usually arent going to go at a guy behind the net there, Dubnyk said, referring to defenseman Jared Spurgeon chasing Simmonds behind the net.The Wild had a chance to tie it when Flyers center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare took an interference penalty on Koivu, but Minnesota did not record a shot on the man-advantage and fell to 2 for 25 on the road this season.The Wild grabbed a pair of one-goal leads in the opening two periods, only to see the Flyers tie the score.Niederreiter, who had 20 goals last season, opened the scoring just 21 seconds in when he lifted a pass from right wing Charlie Coyle over Neuvirths right shoulder. Neuvirth stopped the next six shots before pulling himself out of the game after the first.The Flyers tied it with 7:33 left in the period as Manning wristed a shot from the blue line past a screened Dubnyk for his third.With Mason in, the Wild scored on their fourth shot of the second period to take a 2-1 lead. Koivu started the play by carrying the puck into the offensive zone and making an outside-inside move on Del Zotto. Koivu backhanded a shot off the crossbar and Granlund deposited the rebound for his third.The Flyers tied the score again with 2:15 remaining in the second on a strong rush up the ice by Del Zotto, who passed it to Michael Raffl and then saw Raffls return pass go off his left skate and behind Dubnyk.Game notesMinnesota finished 0 for 2 on the power play and Philadelphia was 1 for 3. ... The teams conclude their season series at Minnesota on March 23. ... Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek left the game early in the first period after taking a puck to the chin but returned for the second period. ... Wild F Zach Parise sat out his fifth straight game with a lower body injury. He is expected to miss Sunday nights game in Ottawa but is skating on his own in Minnesota and could return on Tuesday against Calgary or Thursday against Boston.UP NEXTWild: At Ottawa on Sunday night.Flyers: Host Ottawa on Tuesday night. ' ' '