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RSL Host Seattle Sounders FC in Independence Day Clash

July 3, 2012 - Major League Soccer (MLS) Real Salt Lake

SANDY, Utah (Tuesday, July 3, 2012) - Real Salt Lake (10-6-2, 32 pts; West #2) kicks off July with four home games out of five by welcoming West rival Seattle Sounders FC (7-5-5, 26 pts; West #3) on Wednesday, July 4 at Rio Tinto Stadium, in RSL's eighth annual Independence Day celebration, complete with a post-game fireworks show.

Live television coverage of the 8:00 p.m. MT kickoff will air on CW30 with hosts Bill Riley and Brian Dunseth, and conclude with the 10:00 p.m. MT showing of the 30-minute RAM TRUCKS post-game show. Fans can also follow the action via the team's official radio partners: ESPN 700/ESPN700Sports.com and La Gran D 102.3 FM, and by live Twitter updates on Twitter.com/RealSaltLake .

Both teams look to earn a critical three points in Saturday's match. The Seattle Sounders FC are fresh off a 2-2 tie with New England and have not recorded a win since May 9, their eight-game winless streak in MLS play commencing with RSL's 1-0 win on May 12 at Century Link Field.

The Claret-and-Cobalt - which dropped back-to-back home MLS matches June 20 and June 23 for the first time since October, 2007 - seek to snap a three-game MLS losing streak, as well as an unprecedented three-game Rio Tinto Stadium losing streak in all competitions, its longest home skid since its inaugural 2005 season, when the 5-22-5 expansion club dropped its final six home matches.

However, despite back-to-back MLS home losses to Los Angeles (June 20) and San Jose (June 23), Real Salt Lake's record of 10-6-2 (32 points) through 18 games is second only to its 2010 start and its 4-3-2 road mark is the best in the team's eight-year history, surpassing the 3-4-2 road mark during its record-setting 2010 season.

How to Follow Real Salt Lake v. Seattle Sounders

- Kickoff: 8:00 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium

- TV: CW30 w/ Bill Riley & Brian Dunseth (RAM TRUCKS post-game coverage at 10:00 p.m. MT)

- Radio: ESPN700 (Pre/post game begins at 7:00 p.m. MT)

- Radio: 102.3 FM "La Gran D" / 1600 AM w/ Nelson Moran & Fernando Hortal

- Real Salt Lake will attempt to snap a three-game losing skid, the club's longest such streak since it lost four games in a row late in the 2011 season

- RSL captain Kyle Beckerman is set to return to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension in last Saturday's loss at Columbus

- Seattle comes into the match riding a franchise record eight-game MLS winless streak

- Seattle will be without star defensive midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, who is suspended for the match due to yellow card accumulation

RSL History v. Seattle Sounders

Last season, both teams attained 2-1 wins on the road in regular-season meetings - Seattle Sounders on May 28 at Rio Tinto, and RSL on September 10, in a game marred by first-half red cards to Tony Beltran and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. Seattle then won 2-0 against RSL in the home leg of the 2011 MLS Western Conference Semifinals, falling a goal shy of forcing overtime due to RSL's 3-0 dominance in the first leg.

All-time, RSL is 4-4-2 against Seattle, including a 3-2-2 record in regular-season play. Each team has won a playoff game against the other, with only the 2009 MLS play-in victory by Seattle in a preliminary round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tipping the scales.

In their last meeting on May 12, 2012, RSL earned 3 points on the road with a 1-0 win at Century Link Stadium. FW Fabian Espindola found the back of the net for the game's only goal early on in the second half, the opportunity created by 18-year old MF Luis Gil and FW Alvaro Saborio.

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Major League Soccer Stories from July 3, 2012


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