Real Salt Lake to Face Houston Dynamo Away on Wednesday, August 23 in 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal
June 8, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release
With a Semifinal Victory, America First Field Would Host 2023 LHUSOC Final on September 27; RSL Two Wins Away from a Trophy with Deep LHUSOC Advancement for First Time Since 2015; In Event of Hosting Final, RSL Season Ticket Members Would Receive Exclusive Purchase Window; Summer Slate of MLS and Leagues Cup Tickets NOW Available at www.RSL.com/tickets
CHICAGO / SANDY, Utah - Real Salt Lake (5-7-4 / 19 pts / 9th West) travel to face fellow MLS Western Conference foe Houston Dynamo in one of two Semifinal stage matches in the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, August 23, kickoff time and broadcast information TBA. With a win in RSL's second visit to Houston this year, the Claret-and-Cobalt would return home to host the 109th U.S. Open Cup Final at America First Field on September 27 against the winner of Inter Miami and FC Cincinnati in the opposite Semifinal.
RSL advanced to its first Open Cup Semifinal - placing the Utah side just two wins away from its first trophy since 2013 (Western Conference title) and its first CONCACAF Champions League berth since 2016 - with a 3-2 win over the LA Galaxy Wednesday night at America First Field. RSL Captain Damir Kreilach scored two first-half goals to give Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni's side a 2-0 halftime lead before 20,712 in Sandy, while FW Jefferson Savarino extended the lead to 3-0 with his 51st-minute strike, as FW Rubio Rubin created all three goals Wednesday, following his two-goal performance in Saturday's win at Austin FC. The final 10 minutes of the match were tense, however, as the Galaxy - who defeated RSL a week ago by a 3-2 scoreline on MLS Matchday 15 - struck in the 82nd and 84th minutes en route to a 3-2 final scoreline in favor of RSL.
Real Salt Lake has now advanced to the LHUSOC Final Four for a third Open Cup foray. Eight years ago saw RSL win at home against the LA Galaxy at the same Quarterfinal stage, as an 87th-minute Aaron Maund goal sent the Utah side to an eventual Semifinal loss at Kansas City, completing the Claret-and-Cobalt's second-longest LHUSOC run. In 2013, RSL advanced all the way to the Open Cup Final, dropping an 0-1 home decision in Sandy to a three-win D.C. United side - formerly led by current Houston Dynamo boss Ben Olsen - six weeks prior to that year's MLS Cup 2013 loss in Kansas City.
The three U.S. Open Cup road wins over the last month at Las Vegas (3-1 W after extra time), at Portland (a 4-3 W that featured comebacks from 0-1 and 2-3 deficits) and the 1-0 at Colorado advanced Real Salt Lake to the Quarterfinal stage for the first time since 2015.
Kreilach's three goals during the current tourney give him four all-time in U.S. Open Cup play for RSL, one shy of the 19-year Club's all-time lead, held by Joao Plata, who scored five goals in nearly twice as many minutes. FW Jefferson Savarino, MF Maikel Chang and FW Danny Musovski each have two goals during this run, while veterans Marcelo Silva and Anderson Julio along with several others - including newcomers Andrés Gómez, Brayan Vera, Braian Ojeda, Bryan Oviedo and rookies Bertin Jacquesson, Ilijah Paul and homegrown Delentz Pierre - have made their USOC debuts for RSL.
All-time, Real Salt Lake now owns a 15-15-3 (W-L-T) record in the 109-year old tournament, the United States' longest-running competition, regardless of sport. On Utah soil, RSL is 12W-6L-1T against visiting teams, including a dominant 6-2-1 (W-L-T) mark against those from lower divisions. The lone Utah-based losses to lesser-heralded visitors: first in 2012, when the Minnesota Stars arrived to stun a then-record LHUSOC crowd of 17,212 in a 1-3 RSL result; and last year, when the expansion USL League One side Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC sent 19,000+ RSL fans home dismayed after a shocking 0-1 loss in the Third Round.
On three occasions, RSL has needed a penalty-kick tiebreaker to determine LHUSOC advancement, winning twice. The first time came away in San Jose in 2010, as former DF Nat Borchers scoring the equalizer in extra time to force the shootout, then burying the game-winning kick against the Earthquakes in an MLS qualifier for the tournament proper. In 2016, RSL both lived and died by the PK shootout sword; needing the tiebreaker to eliminate the lower-division Wilmington Hammerheads at the RioT, then falling victim in the Round of 16 to the Seattle Sounders, riding an impenetrable Tyler Miller in goal.
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