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Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Hits Yankee Stadium Wednesday Night

April 10, 2018 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SANDY, Utah - Real Salt Lake (2-2-1, 7 pts, 4th West) continues its 14th Major League Soccer campaign Wednesday night with a 5:00 p.m. MT kickoff at historic Yankee Stadium against NYCFC in The Bronx to kick off a stretch that sees Head Coach Mike Petke's side play five of its next seven MLS matches away from home. RSL boasts an all-time 3-0-0 mark against NYCFC, winning 3-2 in 2016 during its lone previous visit to Yankee Stadium, also defeating the 2015 expansion side in Utah meetings in both 2015 and 2017.

RSL improved to .500 on the young MLS season with Saturday's 2-1 home win over visiting Vancouver, the club's second consecutive home victory and the second "bounceback" win this season, following a loss in the previous match. Late goals in each half by FW Luis Silva and FW Jefferson Savarino - the first goals of 2018 for each attacker - paced RSL to the victory, as homegrown players Brooks Lennon and Corey Baird each notched their first assists of 2018. MF Damir Kreilach's secondary assist on Savarino's game-winner made him the 91st different RSL player to notch a goal or an assist in the club's 14-year MLS existence, while DF Adam Henley became the 147th player to don the Claret-and-Cobalt since 2005 with his early first-half substitute appearance. With Saturday's win 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 108-27-44 mark since opening in October, 2008.

Wednesday's broadcast coverage kicks off at 4:00p MT on ESPN700 AM and 4:30p MT on KMYU TV and the KSL digital streaming app, with David James and Brian Dunseth now joined by Samantha Yarock, RSL's new pre- and post-game host and sideline reporter. Yarock, formerly of the Portland Timbers' digital and TV properties and a former host on MLSsoccer.com, arrives in Utah with a wealth of experience in the sport, also extensively covering the NWSL Portland Thorns in recent years.

How to Follow Real Salt Lake @ NYCFC - Wed., April 11, 2018

Coverage Begins: 4:30 p.m. MT

Local TV: KMYU - David James & Brian Dunseth w/ Samantha Yarock

Digital Streaming: KSL TV app / KSL.com

English Radio: ESPN 700 AM (4:00 p.m. MT) - Bill Riley & Jay Nolly w/ Tom Hackett & Spencer Warne (pre-/post-game)

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

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 Albert Rusnák (Slovakia) and wingers Joao 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).

Officially opening just one month 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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