Two goals from Yura Movsisyan cancelled out Shkëlzen Gashi’s early opener at Rio Tinto Stadium on Friday night as the Colorado Rapids fell to Real Salt Lake, 2-1. Tim Howard made several excellent saves, but they were not enough to keep Colorado from surrendering the Rocky Mountain Cup to rival Salt Lake.

It was a busy night for Movsisyan, who only played 76 minutes. In that time he scored twice, missed a penalty kick, hit the post and watched Howard leap to deny him another chance of a hat-trick with one of numerous world-class saves.

The victory for Real Salt Lake stings doubly for Colorado. Not only does it return the Rocky Mountain Cup to Utah, it also levels the two clubs in the Supporter’s Shield standings at 43 points. Colorado and Real Salt Lake are now tied for second place in the Western Conference.

A night which ended in such disappointment had begun so brightly for the Rapids. Gashi’s fifth goal of the season, after just five minutes, was an instinctive poacher’s effort. The Albanian international pounced after Nick Rimando was only able to block Dominique Badji’s initial shot.

One bright note for the Rapids came on 61 minutes, when 19-year-old Caleb Calvert made his long-awaited debut in MLS, as a replacement for Badji. Calvert has spent much of this season on loan at USL affiliate Charlotte Independence.

The first of three road games ended in defeat, and the Rapids (11-4-10) will hurt for a few days, before embarking on leg two of their road swing, at New England Revolution on Sept. 3.