MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Update

November 5, 2013 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


REAL SALT LAKE TO HOST LA GALAXY AT RIO TINTO STADIUM IN WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINAL SECOND LEG

Real Salt Lake (West #2) will host LA Galaxy (West #3) on Thursday in the second and final leg of the Western Conference Semifinals at 7:00 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium. Thursday's match will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, and locally on ESPN 700 AM and 102.3 La Gran D FM/1600 AM.

Thursday's match is the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinals series. Real Salt Lake fell to LA Galaxy 1-0 in the first leg on Sunday at StubHub Center. RSL now must win the series' decisive second leg on Thursday at Rio Tinto Stadium in order to have a shot at advancing to the Western Conference Final. If the teams are tied on aggregate at the end of regulation in Thursday's second leg, there will be a pair of 15-minute extra time periods. If the teams remain tied following extra time, the series will be decided by a penalty kick shootout.

The second leg meeting between the two sides will be the clubs' fourth playoff match against each other all-time. Preceding Sunday's loss in LA, the Claret-and-Cobalt beat the Galaxy in penalties in MLS Cup 2009 in Seattle and lost 3-1 to LA in the 2011 Western Conference Final in Carson. Calif.

In the 2013 MLS regular season, Real Salt Lake went 1-2-0 against LA. The Galaxy took the first match between the sides, scoring two early goals to beat RSL 2-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium on April 27. The Claret-and-Cobalt took a measure of revenge in the second meeting, downing the Galaxy 3-1 at Rio Tinto Stadium on June 8. RSL dropped the final meeting between the sides, falling victim to a hat trick from Galaxy FW Robbie Keane to lose 4-2 at LA on Aug. 17.

Real Salt Lake is 10-12-6 all-time against LA Galaxy in MLS regular season and playoff action, posting a 5-3-4 all-time home record in Utah. The Claret-and-Cobalt is 1-2-2 all-time in the second leg of playoff series, advancing past those second legs on three of five occasions.

Tickets to the crucial second leg are on sale and can be purchased at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office, online at www.RealSaltLake.com/Tickets or over the phone at 801-727-2700.

REAL SALT LAKE FALLS 1-0 TO LA GALAXY AT STUBHUB CENTER IN FIRST LEG OF WEST SEMIS

Real Salt Lake dropped the first leg of its Western Conference Semifinal series with the LA Galaxy on Sunday night, conceding early in the second half to fall 1-0 to the defending MLS Cup champions in front of a sold-out StubHub Center.

LA Galaxy DF Sean Franklin scored the game's lone goal in the 47th minute, running onto a loose ball in the middle of RSL's third and blasting a gorgeous first-time effort into the back of the net from 35 yards out.

Real Salt Lake began the match in a 4-5-1 formation, departing from its usual diamond shape in an effort to stymie the potent Galaxy attack. LA took advantage of RSL's defensive posture, controlling most of the first half and collecting the better chances throughout the 90 minutes.

RSL now must win the series' decisive second leg on Thursday at Rio Tinto Stadium in order to have a shot at advancing to the Western Conference Final. If the teams are tied on aggregate at the end of regulation in Thursday's second leg, there will be a pair of 15-minute extra time periods. If the teams remain tied following extra time, the series will be decided by a penalty kick shootout.

RSL will host the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinal series at 7:00 p.m. MT on Thursday at Rio Tinto Stadium. Tickets to the decisive second leg are on sale and can be purchased at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office, online at www.RealSaltLake.com/Tickets or over the phone at 801-727-2700.

2013 MLS GOAL OF THE YEAR AND SAVE OF THE YEAR VOTING NOW OPEN

Voting for the 2013 AT&T Goal of the Year and 2013 Save of the Year is now open. The Goal of the Year competition will be decided from a field of 64 goals with the First Round will consisting of 16 groups of four, with the top two vote-getters going through to the Second Round. The winner of the 2013 AT&T Goal of the Year will be announced on Thursday, December 5.

The First Round of voting has featured goals from Real Salt Lake MF Javier Morales, MF Luis Gil, MF Yordanny Alvarez, FW Robbie Findley and FW Alvaro Saborio. First Round voting will close on Nov. 6 with the last Groups M-P up for the vote. You can vote for Goal of the Year HERE .

The 2013 AT&T Save of the Year is organized as a World Cup-style tournament and will culminate in the announcement of the Save of the Year on Thursday, Dec. 5. The award is decided from a pool of all 35 Save of the Week winners from the 2013 season.

The first round of voting for Save of the Year is open and features two great saves by Claret-and-Cobalt GK Nick Rimando in Group B. First round voting will continue with Groups C-D (Nov. 6-7), Groups E-F (Nov. 8-9), Groups G-H (Nov. 10-11). You can vote for Save of the Year HERE .

REAL SALT LAKE MF ENZO MARTINEZ RETURNS TO RSL AFTER COMPLETING LOAN TO NASL CAROLINA RAILHAWKS

Real Salt Lake MF Enzo Martinez has returned to the Claret-and-Cobalt following the completion of his loan to the NASL Carolina RailHawks. Martinez, who Real Salt Lake selected in the first round of the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, was with the RailHawks for part of the NASL spring season and the entire fall season, making six appearances, scoring three goals and adding two assists for the Cary, N.C.-side.

Carolina accumulated more points across the spring and fall seasons than any other team in NASL, but did not qualify for the league championship as it did not finish either season in first-place.

Martinez trained with RSL for the first time since returning from his loan on Tuesday.

REAL SALT LAKE U-16 ACADEMY TEAM DEFEATS U.S. SOCCER'S U-15 BOYS' NATIONAL TEAM

In the first ever meeting between the two sides, the Real Salt Lake U-16 Academy team defeated U.S. Soccer's U-15 Boys' National Team 3-0 on Saturday night with a hat-trick from Brooks Lennon and a clean sheet from goalkeeper Christian Herrera.

Lennon, who made his debut for the U-16 MNT earlier this year, opened up his tally in the 26th-minute when he put away a deflected Miles Stray shot. He doubled his count on a beautifully hit free kick from 20 yards halfway through the second half and scored his final goal in the 72nd minute. Lennon wasn't the only player on Saturday night who performed exceptionally. Defenders Justen Glad, Aaron Herrera, Gavino Carranza and Danny Acosta with help from holding midfielder Fito Ovalle kept the U-15 BNT attack at bay and limited them to just three shots on goal.

REAL SALT LAKE INJURY REPORT

OUT: GK Josh Saunders (L ACL reconstruction), DF Kwame Watson-Siriboe (R ACL reconstruction)

QUESTIONALBE: Ned Grabavoy (L hamstring strain)

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Major League Soccer Stories from November 5, 2013


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