MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Update

December 11, 2013 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


Real Salt Lake Falls to Sporting Kansas City in Penalty Kick Shootout in MLS Cup 2013

LONGTIME CLARET-AND-COBALT HEAD COACH JASON KREIS TO LEAVE CLUB AFTER NINE YEARS AS PLAYER, MANAGER

Real Salt Lake announced on Tuesday that Jason Kreis will not return to the club in 2014. Kreis' contract as RSL head coach ended after the 2013 MLS season, which concluded Saturday with the club's MLS Cup defeat at Sporting Kansas City.

Real Salt Lake has begun its search for a new head coach, and expects to hire one before the end of next week.

"I'd like to thank Jason for a remarkably successful run during his nine years with Real Salt Lake as both a player and as a head coach," said RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen, who invested in Utah's MLS club in October 2009, prior to assuming full ownership in January of this year. "Jason obviously leaves the Utah soccer scene significantly better than he found it, building the competitive foundation of one of Major League Soccer's elite organizations. We will continue to move forward - quickly - with the 'Team is the Star' ethos that he and our General Manager Garth Lagerwey implemented back in 2007.

"We are certain that the job Jason leaves behind - with both the accomplished veteran core and the glut of promising youth - is quite attractive to potential candidates, and we expect to name Jason's replacement next week."

Kreis' crowning achievement with RSL came in 2009, when he led the Claret-and-Cobalt to an MLS Cup title in its fifth season with a surprise penalty kick shootout win at MLS Cup 2009 in Seattle over the Los Angeles Galaxy. The youngest-ever head coach to win MLS Cup, Kreis was in charge of RSL as it advanced to three other major finals, leading the team to the 2010-2011 CONCACAF Champions League Final, the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final and MLS Cup 2013.

REAL SALT LAKE LOSES 1-1 (6-7) TO SPORTING KANSAS CITY IN PENALTY KICK SHOOTOUT AT SPORTING PARK IN MLS CUP 2013

Real Salt Lake lost MLS Cup 2013 in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday, falling 1-1 (7-6) to Sporting Kansas City after a penalty kick shootout at Sporting Park.

RSL FW Alvaro Saborio - making his return to the lineup after missing RSL's Western Conference Championship series against Portland Timbers due to a hip flexor strain - put the Claret-and-Cobalt on top in the 52nd minute, firing a 20-yard half volley home past SKC GK Jimmy Nielsen. Sporting equalized in the 76th minute, when DF Aurelien Collin buried a FW Graham Zusi corner kick from 10 yards out.

Neither side scored in extra time, sending the match into a penalty kick shootout. RSL fell into a 2-0 hole in the shootout, but climbed all the way back, tying Sporting 3-3 after the first five shooters. The sides traded goals and misses until the 10th shooters, with Collin burying his penalty for SKC before RSL DF Lovel Palmer sent his spot kick off the crossbar to give SKC the shootout by a 7-6 margin.

As it so often has in championship matches, RSL hit the woodwork an agonizing three times in regulation on Saturday - the most any one time has hit the post/crossbar in MLS Cup history.

MLS Cup 2013 was Real Salt Lake's second appearance in an MLS Cup Final. The Claret-and-Cobalt previously won MLS Cup 2009 against LA Galaxy in a penalty shootout in Seattle. Saturday's match was the first playoff meeting between Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City. The Claret-and-Cobalt had only won once before at Kansas City - a 1-0 win over the Wizards on Aug. 29, 2009.

Real Salt Lake made its sixth-consecutive appearance in the MLS postseason this year, the second-longest such streak in MLS history. The Claret-and-Cobalt also reached the 15-win and 50-point plateaus for the fourth-consecutive year, something no other MLS club has accomplished.

FORMER RSL ASSISTANT C.J. BROWN JOINS CHICAGO FIRE COACHING STAFF

Former Real Salt Lake Assistant Coach C.J. Brown left Real Salt Lake and joined the Chicago Fire coaching staff as an assistant on Wednesday. Brown spent the last three seasons as a RSL assistant, joining the Claret-and-Cobalt ahead of the 2011 season after playing for Chicago from 1998-2010.

Brown was inducted into the Fire's Hall of Fame, known as the "Ring of Fire," on May 9, 2012, in a postgame ceremony following RSL's scoreless draw at Chicago that same night. The Hayward, Calif. native is Chicago's all-time leader in competitive appearances, starts and minutes played.

CONCACAF TO MAKE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFYING DECISION ON FRIDAY

CONCACAF will make an official decision on Friday on whether or not to alter the CONCACAF Champions League qualification rules which will ultimately determine Real Salt Lake's fate in the 2014-2015 tournament. In previous years, the MLS Cup winner, MLS Cup runner-up, Supporters' Shield winner and U.S. Open Cup victor all qualified for CONCACAF Champions League.

Before the start of the 2013 MLS Season, MLS's competition committee sent a recommendation to CONCACAF that the MLS Cup runner-up should no longer qualify and that the spot should instead be awarded to the MLS team that had the best regular season finish in the conference opposite of the Supporters' Shield winner.

If CONCACAF votes to keep the old rules in place, Real Salt Lake will qualify for the 2014-2015 CONCACAF Champions League tournament. If MLS' recommendation is adopted, Portland Timbers, who finished first in the Western Conference in the 2013 MLS regular season, will qualify for the tournament instead. If CONCACAF does alter its qualifying rules, it is not certain that the changes will be adopted immediately and put in place for the 2014-2015 contest.

REAL SALT LAKE TO HOST PRO COMBINE AT GRANDE SPORTS WORLD FACILITY IN CASA GRANDE, ARIZ.

Real Salt Lake will hold its fourth-annual Pro Combine at the Grande Sports World facility in Casa Grande, Ariz. from Dec. 16-18.

Real Salt Lake General Manager Garth Lagerwey and the rest of the club's technical staff will be on hand during the combine to conduct training sessions and evaluate players in advance of January's 2014 MLS SuperDraft.

The goal of the RSL Pro Combine is to identify quality players who have flown under the radar for any number of reasons. Real Salt Lake and the Real Salt Lake - Arizona Academy take pride in their programs' hard-work, character, and team-first mentality, and are looking for players that will mesh with these core philosophies.

RSL Pro Combine alumni include current Seattle Sounders FC DF Dylan Remick (2012), RSL MF Sebastian Velasquez (2011), Colorado Rapids MF Tony Cascio (2011), Seattle Sounders FC MF Alex Caskey (2011), former New England Revolution MF Michael Roach (2011) and Columbus Crew MF Bernardo Añor (2010). All six above players - as well as three more from the 2010 class - were selected in the MLS SuperDraft.

Players interested in attending the 2013 RSL Pro Combine at Grande Sports World must send in a copy of their resume/CV to info@grandesports.com for approval. Approved participants in the RSL Pro Combine will be asked to pay a $349 registration fee, which includes:

Guest accommodations for two nights at the Francisco Grande Resort & Hotel, located adjacent to the Grande Sports World complex (price based on double occupancy) Breakfast, lunch and dinner for three days Usage of the Grande Sports World complex fields and performance center for individual workouts

For more information on the 2013 RSL Pro Combine at Grande Sports World, please contact Miha Kline at mkline@grandesports.com . For more information on the host facility, visit Grande Sports World's website, located at www.GrandeSports.com, or their Facebook page, located at www.facebook.com/GSW10 .

FOUR REAL SALT LAKE-ARIZONA ACADEMY GRADUATES ADVANCE TO 2013 MEN'S COLLEGE CUP FINAL FOUR

Four Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy graduates - out of the original 19 who qualified for the NCAA Tournament - will play in the NCAA College Cup Final Four this weekend. Josh Goss and Lucas Seligman of New Mexico and Jordan Allen and Riggs Lennon of Virginia will play in the semifinal round of the tournament on Friday at PPL Park, home of MLS' Philadelphia Union. New Mexico will face Notre Dame at 3:00 p.m. MT and Virginia will take on Maryland at 5:30 p.m. MT. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPNU.

University of Virginia defeated University of Connecticut 2-1 last Friday, with Real Salt lake-Arizona Academy graduate Jordan Allen scoring the game-winner. Allen provided the lead in the 62nd minute when a low, bouncing ball from a corner kick took a few deflections inside the box eventually popping the ball up. Allen then whipped in a half-bicycle kick that found the back of the net. Fellow RSL-Arizona Academy graduate and teammate Riggs Lennon did not feature in the match.

University of New Mexico advanced to the Final Four with a 1-0 win over University of Washington on Saturday, knocking out fellow RSL-Arizona Academy graduate Danny Gavin. New Mexico's Josh Goss and Lucas Seligman did not feature in the match.

The NCAA College Cup Championship match will take place on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. MT.

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Major League Soccer Stories from December 11, 2013


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