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MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Resumes 2018 MLS Campaign Friday Night at Toronto FC

March 29, 2018 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SANDY, Utah - Real Salt Lake resumes its 14th Major League Soccer campaign Friday night with a 6:00 p.m. MT kickoff at defending MLS Cup champion Toronto FC in the lone road trip amongst an early-season stretch that sees the Utah side play three out of four games at home. Friday's match sees RSL looking to improve upon its 1-4-3 all-time mark "In the Six" in previous MLS/CCL visits to Toronto, the lone win coming in 2013.

RSL arrives in Toronto looking to capitalize on the momentum from a 1-0 home win over Major League Soccer's other CONCACAF Champions League Semifinalist, the New York Red Bulls, back on March 17. That game saw MF Albert Rusnák convert a 4th-minute penalty for the game winner, while legendary GK Nick Rimando secured his 138th career shutout (102 in an RSL kit). Rusnák went on to score a scintillating goal for Slovakia a week ago during the recent FIFA international break, leading his home country Slovakia to a King's Cup title in Thailand.

How to Follow Real Salt Lake @ Toronto FC - Fri., March 30, 2018

Coverage Begins: 5:30 p.m. MT

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

Digital Streaming: KSL TV app

English Radio: ESPN 700 AM (5:00 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

RSL returns home one week from Saturday, hosting West rival Vancouver Whitecaps at Rio Tinto Stadium on April 7. Following that home match, RSL enters a six-week stretch from April 11 to May 26 that sees HC Mike Petke's club 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.

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).

Last week in Tulsa, several RSL players appeared in the Real Monarchs' come-from-behind, 3-2 season-opening USL win. MF Charlie Adams and Captain Chandler Hoffman reversed a one-goal deficit just 90 seconds apart at the death to capture the three points on the road for HC Mark Briggs' defending USL regular-season champions. The visiting Monarchs had taken an early lead on a strike by rookie FW Corey Baird in a game that saw club debuts for MF Maikel Chang - named to the USL "Team of the Week" - as well as DF Adam Henley, MF Pablo Ruiz, GK Alex Horwath and DF Justin Portillo, amongst others.

Meanwhile, in Orlando, the club's third professional team, Utah Royals FC, earned a road point in its first-ever game, as MF Gunny Jonsdottir slammed home a sweet cross from FW Diana Matheson just three minutes into the team's NWSL debut. Despite conceding a penalty on a disputed handball call against USA captain Becky Sauerbrunn 18 minutes later, HC Laura Harvey's Utah debut provided glimpses of brilliance entering the season, which continues Friday night in Houston.

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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