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MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Returns Home Saturday to Host St. Louis City SC

March 29, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


HERRIMAN, Utah - Real Salt Lake (2-2-1, 7 pts., 5th West MLS) resumes its 2024 MLS regular season - the Club's 20th and Major League Soccer 29th - this Saturday evening at America First Field in Sandy with a 7:30p MT kickoff against St. Louis CITY SC (1-0-4, 7 pts, 8th West MLS), one of five unbeaten MLS sides remaining this season. Back on Feb. 24, RSL and STL drew 1-1, with FW Chicho Arango putting RSL ahead on a Matt Crooks assist, prior to CITY's late equalizer.

Tickets for Saturday's expected sellout - which could feature the international returns of M/F Diego Luna and FW Andrés Gómez - are available at www.RSL.com/tickets.

Last week saw RSL suffocate the Whitecaps in Vancouver, 2-1, overcoming a first-half goal from former captain Damir Kreilach as 17-year-old RSL FW Fidel Barajas assisted both second-half scores, first on FW Anderson Julio's 70th-minute equalizer, then on DF Alex Katranis' 76th-minute game-winner. Both Katranis and Barajas made their first-ever RSL / MLS starts last week, while Barajas became just the sixth player in MLS' 29-year history to register a multi-assist match at his age or younger, joining such past MLS luminaries as Bobby Convey, Santino Quaranta, Alphonso Davies, Cade Cowell and Freddy Adu.

In its last home match on March 9, RSL fell at home, 1-2, against Rocky Mountain Cup rivals Colorado, with the Rapids reversing an early 1-0 deficit at America First Field in Sandy. Despite the first professional goal from second-year MF Emeka Eneli and a strong performance from 18-year-old GK Gavin Beavers, RSL was unable to finish its chances and fell at home to Colorado for the first time since 2020, and for the first time on Utah soil with fans in the building since 2007.

Saturday's kickoff at 7:30p MT on Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass w/ Mex Bretos and Brian Dunseth (ENG) and Adrian Garcia Marquez and Francisco Pinto (SPN). For local coverage, tune in at 6:30p MT for KSL Radio pre-game w/ David James & Jay Nolly via www.KSLSports.com / 1280 AM / 97.5 FM and www.KSLNewsRadio.com / 1160 AM).

Real Salt Lake v St. Louis CITY SC - MLS Matchday 6

America First Field - Sandy, Utah

Saturday, March 30, 2024 - 7:30p MT

2023 Records:

Real Salt Lake (14-12-8, 50 pts, 5th West);

St. Louis CITY SC (17-12-5, 56 pts., 1st West)

BARAJAS MAKES MLS TEAM OF THE MATCHDAY

On Monday, RSL playmaker Fidel Barajas was named to MLSsoccer.com's Team of the Matchday's starting XI for Matchday 6, the 17-year-old's first time being named to the TOTM starting XI. Barajas helped inspire RSL's stunning second-half comeback in Vancouver on Saturday by providing his first two MLS assists in the Claret-and-Cobalt's 2-1 win. Former RSL captain Damir Kreilach struck first for the Caps', giving Vancouver the lead going into halftime.

The tide changed in the second half with RSL starting to apply more pressure and in the 70' minute, the Utah side found its breakthrough. Barajas slid a perfectly-placed pass into FW Anderson Julio, who tied the game up 1-1. Six minutes later, Barajas found DF Alexandros Katranis, also making his first MLS start, who opened his RSL account in incredible fashion and completing the comeback.

Barajas put the league on notice during his first MLS start, the youngster almost scoring his first goal in MLS twice, but twice being denied by the woodwork. With mentor Diego Luna away with the U.S. Men's Olympic Team, Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni decided it was time to give Barajas his first start after impressing in preseason, and his trust was rewarded handsomely.

After winning the USL Championship Young Player of the Year award in 2023, Barajas joined Real Salt Lake ahead of the Club's 2024 campaign, making his MLS debut back on Feb. 21 during RSL's first match of the season against Inter Miami and Lionel Messi, ticking off another goal of his in his already impressive young career.

THREE RSL PLAYERS RETURN FROM INTERNATIONAL DUTY

Three RSL players who missed last weekend's trip to Canada - U.S. Olympic National Team playmaker Diego Luna and U20 goalkeeper Gavin Beavers representing the Stars-and-Stripes, while Colombian winger Andrés Gómez was a late addition to Los Cafeteros camp in London, England - have returned to the Club ahead of this weekend's home match against St. Louis. Luna played 27 minutes for the U.S. Olympic Team in a 3-0 win over Guinea, while not playing in Monday's 2-2 draw with France.

Beavers was part of the U.S. U-20 camp in Morocco last week, playing the final 45 minutes in a draw against England and not appearing in Tuesday's Morocco match. RSL was not originally expected to be at or even near full-strength for last week's trip to Vancouver during the FIFA window, as several countries - Chile (Pablo Ruiz), Colombia (DF Brayan Vera, FW Andrés Gómez), Costa Rica (Bryan Oviedo), Ecuador (Anderson Julio), Paraguay (Braian Ojeda) and the United States U20 (Fidel Barajas) had RSL names on their preliminary rosters. For various reasons, only Luna and Beavers - and later Gómez - ended up making the final "Club and Country" callups.

RUIZ OUT FOR YEAR FOLLOWING CONTRACT EXTENSION

The elation from the March 2 home-opening 3-0 win over LAFC came to a screeching halt 72 hours later in that Tuesday's training session, as MF Pablo Ruiz suffered a contact injury to his left knee, with an MRI later that day revealing an isolated ACL tear. Ruiz underwent surgery on March 11, with the procedure performed by RSL Team Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Dain Allred of Intermountain Hospital in Provo. A timeline for his recovery will be determined in the near future.

A 25-year-old Argentine who has often been on Chile's preliminary rosters in the last several FIFA windows started each of RSL's first two games this season - a road loss at Miami and the away draw in St. Louis - before coming off the bench for the final 20 minutes of that 3-0 win over visiting LAFC. In the days before the injury, Ruiz had just signed a new long-term contract with RSL that will keep him on the Wasatch Front through the 2026 season, with Club options for 2027/28.

LUNA ADDED TO U22 DESIGNATION

RSL starlet Diego Luna - who would probably have as many as 3 assists this year once MLS re-institutes secondary assists - joined Ruiz in signing a long-term contract extension with the Club earlier this month, keeping the affectionately known "Moon Boy" with the Utah side through the 2026 season, with Club options for 2027/28.

Luna - who received his first-ever USMNT cap in January's friendly with Slovenia in San Antonio and is on the preliminary USMNT rosters for both the Nations League and Olympic camps later this month - is now considered a U22 roster designation for RSL, joining Braian Ojeda and Nelson Palacio, as winger Andrés Gómez is moved into the "Young DP" slot, alongside Chicho Arango and newcomer Matt Crooks (TAM-able in MLS' secondary window this summer).

RSL playmaker Diego Luna emerged last season as a late-season talisman for the Claret-and-Cobalt, scoring critical goals in each of the final five matches - two MLS reg. season contests, providing the equalizers in both leg one and leg three of the Playoffs at Houston, and scoring the game-clinching PK in the leg two elimination match at home. Luna recently earned his first U.S. Men's National Team appearance in the January friendly in San Antonio against Slovenia, starting and playing 77 minutes in the very same free role drifting off left wing that he has made his own at RSL.

2024 should be a big year for Luna, whose role within the team is certain to expand after he has now started 25 of 30 games following his return from USYNT qualifying last summer. This year, Luna will have to juggle his Club obligations with potential U.S. Men's National Team duty in June's Copa America and his almost certain Olympic Team duty in July. The Paris Olympics schedule dovetails nicely with the Leagues Cup slate, minimizing Luna's potential absences from MLS reg. season contests.

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