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MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Continues 2018 MLS Campaign Saturday Evening v. New York Red Bulls

March 16, 2018 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SANDY, Utah - Real Salt Lake continues a home portion of its 14th Major League Soccer campaign Saturday evening with a 7:00 p.m. MT kickoff against New York Red Bulls, a stretch that sees the Utah side play three out of four games at home between March 10 and April 7, prior to a 6-week stretch from April 11 to May 26 that sees RSL play five of seven games away. At the world-class Utah venue affectionately known as "The RioT," RSL has enjoyed a prominent home-field advantage since building its permanent home in Sandy, boasting a dominant 106-27-44 mark in the world-class venue since opening in October, 2008.

Saturday's "St. Patrick's Day" contest is presented by Uinta Brewing Company, with limited seating locations remaining; please visit www.RSL.com or call 844.Real.Tix now to access individual seats for Saturday's opener, starting at $25 and up depending on location, in the heavily-anticipated kickoff; 2018 RSL Season Tickets and Flex Vouchers remain on sale, along with 2018 RSL "mini-packs."

Pregame on Saturday, fans will have an opportunity to get autographs and photos with recently-retired DF Chris Wingert at the Stadium's east-side Carnival Real prior to the match. At halftime, the 10-year RSL veteran - one of five players to have appeared in 10 or more seasons with the Utah club established in 2004 - will be honored during a halftime ceremony on the field with RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen, General Manager Craig Waibel and longtime teammate Tony Beltran (Wingert and Beltran are joined in the RSL "decade-plus" club by GK Nick Rimando, Captain Kyle Beckerman and former MF Javier Morales).

How to Follow Real Salt Lake v. New York Red Bulls - Sat., March 17, 2018

Coverage Begins: 6:30 p.m. MT

Local TV: KMYU - David James & Brian Dunseth w/ Rebecca Cade

Digital Streaming: KSL TV app

English Radio: ESPN 700 AM (6:00 p.m. MT) - Bill Riley & Chad Barrett w/ Tom Hackett & Spencer Warne (pre-/post-game)

Spanish Radio: 104.7 /107.1 FM - Fernando Hortal, German Hortal & Carlos Artiles

RSL kicks off Saturday's match seeking redemption for last week's 1-5 loss in its 2018 home opener to expansion side LAFC, the club's first-ever opening day loss in 14 years on Utah soil. RSL Head Coach Mike Petke - now entering his first full year at the helm - faces his former New York Red Bulls side for the first time since he was dismissed at the end of the 2014 season. With RSL, Petke has led his team to a 9-4-3 mark at home, a stretch which included an eight-game unbeaten run and five consecutive wins on Utah soil prior to last week's loss, the first time in 14 years that RSL had allowed more than three goals at Rio Tinto Stadium and more than four goals at home.

RSL kicked off 2018 with a 1-1 draw two weeks ago in Dallas - FW Joao Plata assisted by MF Albert Rusnák - extending the momentum that saw Petke's side post an 8-3-4 mark after July 1 last year to ultimately finishing one point shy of the MLS Cup Playoffs. Plata scored on a rebound of his own saved penalty kick last week for his second goal in as many games so far this season, now amassing 39 in his illustrious RSL career.

FW Luis Silva scored in the final game last year to move into a four-way tie for the 2017 RSL "Golden Boot" with Rusnák, Plata and former FW Yura Movsisyan, each with seven goals. Rusnák led MLS with 12 primary assists last year, while his season total of 14 set a new standard as the second-highest single-season total in club history (surpassing the 12 set in 2016 by Plata and 2014 by Javier Morales) - just one helper shy of matching Morales' club-record 15 assists in 2008.

Real Salt Lake returns a 20-player core amongst the 30-man roster for its 2018 campaign, entering the club's first full year under Petke and staff. International playmaker Rusnák (Slovakia) and wingers Plata (Ecuador) and Jefferson Savarino (Venezuela) each sparked the club's late-season attack last year, while the quintet of USA U-20 CONCACAF Champions - DF Justen Glad, DF Danny Acosta, FW Brooks Lennon, MF Sebastian Saucedo and 2018 signing DF Aaron Herrera, all RSL Academy products - are joined by fellow homegrowns Jordan Allen, Jose Hernandez and Corey Baird.

Veterans returning for 2018 include DF Marcelo Silva, who joined the club in August; 11-year icon Tony Beltran, fifth-year MF Luke Mulholland, third-year MF Sunday Stephen, and experienced Major League Soccer players in L. Silva and DF David Horst. Joining that group are a trio of players who matriculated to the first team from the 2017 USL regular-season champion Real Monarchs: MF Nick Besler, GK Connor Sparrow and a Salt Lake City native, DF Taylor Peay.

Other new arrivals for 2018 include: Spanish FW Alfredo Ortuño; a pair of young American DFs returning from Europe in Adam Henley and Shawn Barry; 19-year old dual-national MF Pablo Ruiz, the Argentine youth international who could play for Chile's senior side; accomplished veteran MF Damir Kreilach; reserve GK Alex Horwath, another American returning stateside from Europe; and rookie FW Ricky Lopez-Espin (Creighton).

Real Salt Lake's 2018 Major League Soccer regular-season schedule follows:

Officially opening just two weeks ago, the Zions Bank Real Academy training campus in Herriman, Utah is located just 20 minutes southwest of Rio Tinto Stadium. The $78 million facility, which will see the first of five grass "TORO Fields" available in upcoming weeks - will serve as the daily training home for both of the club's men's professional teams - RSL (MLS) and Real Monarchs (USL) - while centralizing the club's U-19, U-17 and future U-15 development academy youth selections under the guidance of Academy Director Martin Vasquez.

The Herriman facility provides adjacencies for an on-site charter school in conjunction with the Jordan School District, which opened last August, focusing on STEM disciplines (Science/Technology/Engineering/Math) for nearly 300 boys and girls, kicking off a new era for both sports and education in Utah.

Last December in North Logan, Utah, RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen christened the opening of the first of a half-dozen regional training centers across Utah and Arizona to be built in the next 2-3 years. Each $5 million RTC houses a classroom, as well as an indoor and outdoor field, dedicated to fulfilling a curriculum consistent with the club's vision and mission for youth soccer training and education, and the continued development of both recreational and competitive pre-Academy (ages 7-14) initiatives across Utah and Arizona.

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