Taylor Booth stepped onto the field at America First Field on Saturday, Sept. 12, and became the 243rd player in Real Salt Lake history to appear in an MLS match.

The Eden, Utah, native entered in the 76th minute against New York City FC, replacing Morgan Guilavogui as head coach Pablo Mastroeni's final substitution of the night. Booth wore No. 18 in front of a sellout crowd of 20,293, RSL's 16th consecutive home sellout.

It was a homecoming years in the making. Booth, 25, played in the RSL Academy in Herriman during the 2017-18 season before leaving Utah as a teenager to join Bayern Munich's youth setup in 2019. He spent roughly seven years in Europe, logging 125 professional appearances in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands before RSL brought him home on loan from Dutch club FC Twente on Sept. 2.

"A surreal moment, to come back home and make my debut for this Club," Booth said after the match. "Obviously that feels good, but we need three points, so sad also."

The three points did not come. NYCFC won 2-0, with Nicolás Fernández scoring in the 41st minute and Luighi adding a second in the 62nd. RSL's MLS winless streak stretched to 11 matches, dating to a May 16 victory over Colorado.

RSL dominated possession and outshot NYCFC 15-6, putting six attempts on target, but NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese made six saves to keep the shutout. RSL generated 1.2 expected goals (xG) to NYCFC's 0.4, according to the club's player spotlight.

The debut carried extra meaning for the Booth family. Taylor's younger brother Zach, 22, already plays for RSL, making them the latest siblings to share a roster. Both grew up in Eden. Ahead of his debut, Booth told KSL Sports he had rediscovered his passion for the game after injuries limited him to 18 appearances at Twente last season.

Booth became the third Utahn to represent RSL this season, joining Zach and Zavier Gozo, who departed for English Premier League side Crystal Palace in a club-record transfer in August.

RSL (8-11-5, 29 points) sits 11th in the Western Conference. The club hosts Western Conference-leading Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 7:30 p.m. MT for Black Diamond Kit Night at America First Field.