MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Seeking Back-to-Back Wins Friday Night

Published on April 26, 2018 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SANDY, Utah - Real Salt Lake (3-3-1, 10 pts, 5th West) continues its Major League Soccer campaign Friday night with an 8:30 p.m. MT kickoff at B.C. Place against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, kicking off a road-heavy run that sees Head Coach Mike Petke's side play four of its next five MLS matches away from home. Friday's broadcast coverage kicks off at 7:30p MT on ESPN700 AM with Bill Riley, Jay Nolly and Spencer Warne & Tom Hackett, while video streaming and broadcast begins at 8:00p MT on KMYU TV and the KSL digital streaming app, with David James and Brian Dunseth again joined by Samantha Yarock, RSL's pre-/post-game host and sideline reporter.

Earlier this season, RSL won 2-1 over Vancouver, riding goals from FW Luis Silva and FW Jefferson Savarino late in each half, prior to conceding a late Brek Shea goal to determine the final margin. On the road, RSL has won just once in British Columbia, taking a 1-0 result from B.C. Place just three days prior to the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.

How to Follow Real Salt Lake @ Vancouver Whitecaps FC - Fri., April 27, 2018

Coverage Begins: 8:00 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 (7:30 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

The 1-7-1 all-time mark at Vancouver - where the Whitecaps have outscored RSL 19-7 on aggregate - is peppered with memorable moments, including a dubious Nat Borchers handball after slipping on the turf, Jason Kreis being forced from the bench due to food poisoning, Javier Morales' incredible swooping free kick, Olmes Garcia's long-range equalizer and Elias Vasquez' miscommunication on a chested-down ball for the 'keeper.

Last Saturday night, RSL bounced back from a loss in its previous game to win for the third time, improving to 3-1-0 at home this season. The club's 3-0 win over Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado featured second-half goals from FW Joao Plata, MF Damir Kreilach and MF Albert Rusnák - whose scintillating free kick bender is up for the MLS Goal of the Week. The late offensive explosion, with all three goals coming in the final 10 minutes of the game, arrived in support of the RSL defense, which earned its second clean sheet of the season and gave GK Nick Rimando the record-extending 139th of his illustrious career. Rimando - who did not need to make a save against the Rapids behind a starting backline averaging just 21.25 years of age - earned career MLS reg. season win No. 199, extending yet another all-time league mark.

With the win, RSL improved to 13-3-5 at home in MLS play vs. Colorado, including a 10-0-4 all-time record at Rio Tinto Stadium. In Sandy, since 2009, RSL has outscored Colorado 26-6 on aggregate goals. The Colorado Rapids have not won on the Wasatch Front since April, 2007 in MLS play (the Rapids did return to Rice-Eccles that May and won an Open Cup play-in game as well). Overall, the fan-created Rocky Mountain Cup series has seen RSL emerge victorious in 9 of the last 11 campaigns, with Colorado only winning in 2015, 2013 and 2005/06.

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 six 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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