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Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Update

July 21, 2014 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


REAL SALT LAKE TO HOST MONTREAL IMPACT ON THURSDAY

Real Salt Lake continues its homestand on Thursday, when it hosts Eastern Conference side Montreal Impact at 8:00 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium. Thursday's contest will be broadcast live on CW30, ESPN 700 and 102.3 La Gran D FM.

Real Salt Lake played to a 1-1 draw in its last match, tying Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night. Vancouver notched the opening goal in the 73rd minute after RSL DF Nat Borchers was controversially called for a penalty in the box after appearing to cleanly tackle the ball away from Vancouver FW Darren Mattocks. The Jamaican went on to convert from the spot, beating RSL GK Nick Rimando for the first time on spot kicks this year - Rimando had saved all three previous PK attempts he has faced in 2014. Real Salt Lake was able to salvage a point however, after RSL FW Joao Plata equalized in the 81st minute for his eighth goal of the year. Real Salt Lake now sits third in the Western Conference with a 7-4-8 record and total of 29 points.

Saturday's matchup between RSL and Montreal Impact will the first and only regular season meeting between the two sides this year. The Claret-and-Cobalt has only met the Quebec side twice before, with both sides trading wins. The first meeting was held at Rio Tinto Stadium on April 4, 2012 resulting in a 1-0 win for the home side. Montreal enacted revenge the following year, staging a late comeback to win 3-2 at Stade Saputo on May 11, 2013. In the last meeting, Captain Kyle Beckerman put RSL up 2-1 with a 77th minute goal, but the Claret-and-Cobalt couldn't hold the lead, with Montreal FW Marco Di Vaio equalizing from an offside position in the 80th minute before Impact DF Matteo Ferrari found the winner in the 93rd.

Montreal enters Thursday's match coming off a 2-1 loss at Columbus Crew on Saturday night - its third straight loss in MLS play. Montreal has struggled mightily this year, posting a 3-10-5 record for a total of 14 points. The Impact are currently in last place in the Eastern Conference.

Tickets to Thursday's match can be purchased at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office, online at www.RealSaltLake.com/Tickets or over the phone at 801-727-2700.

REAL SALT LAKE RESERVES TO HOST PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS ON FRIDAY

The Real Salt Lake Reserves will host USL Pro side Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Friday at Rio Tinto Stadium. Friday's match will kick at 5:00 p.m. MT and will be streamed live on realsaltlake.com. Tickets to the RSL-Pittsburgh contest can be purchased at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office, online at www.RealSaltLake.com/Tickets or over the phone at 801-727-2700.

Friday's Reserve match will be RSL's second straight game against a USL Pro side. The Claret-and-Cobalt took on USL's Richmond Kickers on July 6, playing to a scoreless draw at City Stadium in Richmond, VA.

The Real Salt Lake Reserves are 1-0-3 on the season for a total of six points. The Claret-and-Cobalt opened the MLS Reserve League season with a 1-1 draw with Chivas USA Reserves on April 29, then went on to defeat Colorado Rapids Reserves 2-0 on May 18 and drew 0-0 with Seattle Sounders FC Reserves on May 26.

The Riverhounds currently sit in last place in the USL Pro standings with a 4-10-5 record and total of 17 points.

REAL SALT LAKE DRAWS 1-1 WITH VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Real Salt Lake (7-4-8 29 points, West #3), played Vancouver Whitecaps FC (6-4-9, 27 points, West #6) to a 1-1 draw in front of a sold-out Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night.

RSL FW Joao Plata scored in the 81st minute for the Claret-and-Cobalt, which fell behind after Vancouver FW Darren Mattocks converted a controversial penalty kick in the 73rd minute.

Real Salt Lake put in an improved performance at home, maintaining the majority of possession and creating more chances throughout the 90 minutes. Despite outshooting Vancouver 16-9, RSL could only find the back of the net once with Vancouver happy to sit back and defend for the majority of the match.

Vancouver managed to take the lead in the 73rd minute after RSL DF Nat Borchers was controversially called for a penalty after appearing to clearly tackle the ball away from Vancouver FW Darren Mattocks in the box. The referee pointed to the spot however and Mattocks converted to put the 'Caps up by one.

After the controversial goal, things started to get heated between the two sides with a flurry of yellow cards issued after an off the ball scuffle at the midfield line. Real Salt Lake went on to capitalize on the increased intensity of the match though, finding the equalizer in the 81st minute. Plata pulled RSL even after running onto a Beckerman pass from the top of the area and coolly finishing a left-footed shot to the far post from inside the box for his eighth of the year.

Real Salt Lake will continue its homestand on Thursday night, hosting Montreal Impact at Rio Tinto Stadium at 8:00 p.m. MT. Tickets to the RSL-Montreal contest can be purchased at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office, online at www.RealSaltLake.com/Tickets or over the phone at 801-727-2700.

RSL-AZ ACADEMY U-16'S FALL 2-0 TO LA GALAXY IN USSDA FINAL; RSL ACADEMY PICKS UP MULTIPLE END-OF-YEAR AWARDS

The Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy U-16's were unable to win back-to-back championships on Saturday, falling 2-0 to LA Galaxy in the 2013-2014 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Championship match held at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

The Claret-and-Cobalt were unable to stage a comeback after going down in the 28th minute through LA's Dylan Smith, who tapped in a deflection off of RSL's goalpost. The Galaxy recorded an insurance goal in the 51st minute when Juan Orozco volleyed home a blast from the top of the 18 yard box.

Real Salt Lake entered Saturday's final looking to win its second-straight USSDA U-16 Championship title. The defending champs advanced to the final match after putting in a dominant performance in its semifinal game two days earlier - a 5-1 rout of Strikers FC.

Despite the loss and second-place finish on Saturday, the RSL-AZ U-16's had a fantastic year finishing first in the USSDA Southwest Division and West Conference. The Claret-and-Cobalt also snagged multiple end-of-year conference awards, with RSL's Sebastian Saucedo winning Player of the Year along with a Forward of the Year honor in the West. Real Salt Lake first-team homegrown signing Justen Glad picked up a Defender of the Year award as well. In the team awards, the entire U-16 squad took home the Style of Play honor.

The Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy U-18 squad was also represented in the conference awards with midfielder Jose Hernandez earning Midfielder of the Year accolades.

In the overall awards, the entire Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy program took home the Best Training Facility honor in the West Conference.

FAN VOTING FOR THE MLS WORKS COMMUNITY MVP CONTEST NOW OPEN

The RSL Family has an opportunity do some good this week as Major League Soccer has announced the finalists fir the MLS WORKS Community MVP Contest presented by Wells Fargo. All 19 MLS teams have a Community MVP nominee that will have the chance to be voted the Grand Prize winner by fans. Real Salt Lake's candidate is Tyler Stockstill, founder of the Utah Development Academy (UDA), a community organization that addresses character development and leadership, healthy lifestyles, and academic excellence through soccer-based programming.

In the past two years Tyler has volunteered an average of 30-hours per week towards establishing UDA with the goal of "equaling the playing field" and providing opportunities for all children, regardless of financial standing, to participate in youth soccer. For more information on Tyler and his organization please visit http://www.udasoccer.org.

The Grand Prize winner, as voted by the fans, will be awarded a $10,000 donation for the charity of their choice and a trip to the 2014 AT&T MLS All-Star Game in Portland. Fan voting is open now through July 25 on the MLS WORKS web site: www.MLSsoccer.com/CommunityMVP.

Fans may also vote by tweeting: "I vote for the @MLSWORKS @WellsFargo @RealSaltLake #CommunityMVP" from 12 p.m. ET on July 24 through 12 p.m. ET on July 25.

The Grand Prize winner will be announced on Friday, July 25 at 2pm ET via twitter by @MLSWORKS.

Let's get Tyler to Portland!

REAL SALT LAKE INJURY REPORT

OUT: MF Jordan Allen (R knee injury), FW Alvaro Saborio (R fifth metatarsal fracture), DF Rich Balchan (Adductor strain)

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