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Real Salt Lake Opens 2018 Preseason at Zions Bank Real Academy Tuesday Afternoon

January 22, 2018 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


HERRIMAN, Utah - Real Salt Lake kicks off its 14th Major League Soccer preseason this Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 3:30 p.m. MT at the club's brand new, state-of-the-art training facility at the Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman, Utah. In Head Coach Mike Petke's first preseason at the helm, RSL will hold multiple training sessions over at the club's indoor practice facility before departing for Tucson, Arizona on Wed., January 31.

***Below is the training schedule at the $78-million Zions Bank Real Academy facilities, including media availability schedules. Media members are strongly encouraged to RSVP and request player interviews early to ensure proper communication of any schedule changes and to fulfill interview requests***:

Tues., Jan. 23: Training at ZBRA in Herriman - 3:30p - 4:45p MT (Media to follow) Wed., Jan. 24: Training at ZBRA in Herriman - 3:30p - 4:45p MT (Media to follow) Thu., Jan. 25: Training at ZBRA in Herriman - 10:30a - 11:45a MT (Media to follow) Fri., Jan. 26: Training at ZBRA in Herriman - 3:30p - 4:45p MT (Media to follow) Sat., Jan. 27: Training at ZBRA in Herriman - 11:00a - 12:15p MT (Media to follow) Sun., Jan. 28:Training at ZBRA in Herriman - 11:00a - 12:15p MT (Media to follow) Mon., Jan. 29:Scrimmage vs. RSL Academy - 5:00p (Media to follow) Tues., Jan. 30: OFF Wed., Jan. 31: TRAVEL to Tucson, Arizona

Unless otherwise indicated, all training sessions are entirely open to members of the media and public. Real Salt Lake Head Coach Mike Petke and members of the roster are scheduled to be available for interviews fieldside after the indicated training session. If you plan on attending a training session / game and requesting access, please contact RSL Media Services personnel Matt Gaschk at (253) 250-3239 / mailto:mgaschk@RSL.com mgaschk@RSL.com a day in advance for arrangements.

While posting an 8-3-4 record over the final 15 matches of the season, Real Salt Lake was among the top teams in Major League Soccer after July 4. Club captain and MF Kyle Beckerman returns for his 12th season with Real Salt Lake, surrounded by a slew of rising talents and veteran mainstays that have their collective eyes on a return to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the ninth time in the last 11 seasons after missing the postseason by just one point in 2017. That group includes the club's 2017 MVP and Golden Boot winner MF Albert Rusnak, along with DF Marcelo Silva and FW Jefferson Savarino, each of whom joined the squad in 2017 and made big impacts in their first MLS seasons. The addition of Spanish FW Alfredo Ortuno bolsters an attack that saw four players each score seven goals (Rusnak, FW Yura Movsisyan, FW Joao Plata and FW Luis Silva) in 2017.

The club continued to dip into its ever-expanding list of Academy products who have gone on to professional contracts, with this year's additions of 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup DF Aaron Herrera and three-time NCAA champion FW Corey Baird. In addition, the RSL back line added DF Adam Henley and DF Shawn Berry to a veteran core that includes DF Demar Phillips and DF David Horst, who both saw significant playing time over the course of the 2017 season.

Additional returnees include MF Luke Mulholland and MF Sunday Stephen, along with Homegrown talents MF Sebastian Saucedo, MF Jose Hernandez and FW Jordan Allen. 2017 USL Regular Season Championship Shield winners GK Connor Sparrow, DF Taylor Peay and MF Nick Besler also earned first-team contracts over the last seven months. Each of the 14 Real Monarchs players currently under contract to the club's USL side will also join this week's preseason sessions in Herriman.

Now with another professional campaign under their belts, the young core of Academy products like DF Justen Glad, DF Danny Acosta and FW Brooks Lennon will miss the commencement of RSL training camp while away with the U.S. National Team's January camp in Carson, California. The trio is scheduled to join the club in Tucson for the second leg of camp, following the USA's January 28 friendly against Bosnia & Herzegovina at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

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