MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Update

March 17, 2014 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


REAL SALT LAKE TO HOST LA GALAXY IN HOME OPENER ON SATURDAY

Real Salt Lake will open its 2014 home slate this Saturday, when it hosts Western Conference rival LA Galaxy at 2:00 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium. Saturday's match will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network and locally on ESPN 700. Tickets to Saturday's home opener can be purchased at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office, over the phone at 801-727-2700 or online at www.RealSaltLake.com/Tickets.

Real Salt Lake has gone 1-0-1 in its first two matches of the 2014 MLS regular season, collecting a total of four points from two tough road matches. RSL got things off to a good start, earning a 1-0 win at LA Galaxy in its season opener on March 8. The Claret-and-Cobalt took on San Jose Earthquakes this past Saturday, claiming a dramatic 3-3 draw at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Real Salt Lake's season opening win at LA Galaxy featured a game-winning goal from FW Joao Plata, who also scored against San Jose. The match also marked RSL veteran GK Nick Rimando's 109th career shutout. Rimando is just three short of the all-time MLS record currently held by retired GK Kevin Hartman.

Saturday's home opener will give LA Galaxy FW Landon Donovan another shot at breaking Major League Soccer's all-time regular season goal scoring mark. The U.S. international is currently tied for first in league history with ex-RSL FW Jeff Cunningham with 134 regular season goals.

The last time RSL and LA met at Rio Tinto Stadium was in the second leg of the 2013 MLS Western Conference Semifinals, where RSL defeated LA Galaxy 2-0 (2-1 on aggregate) to advance to the Western Conference Championship series. RSL lost the first leg 1-0 at StubHub Center, but staged a comeback at home to knock out the 2011 and 2012 MLS Cup Champions.

Real Salt Lake went 1-2-0 against LA Galaxy in the 2013 regular season. The sides first met last year on April 27 at Rio Tinto Stadium which resulted in a 2-0 loss for the Claret-and-Cobalt. The next meeting was a 3-1 win over LA at Rio Tinto Stadium on June 8 followed by a 4-2 loss at StubHub Center on Aug. 17. RSL has an 11-10-5 regular season record against the Galaxy with a 6-3-4 all-time home record against the Southern California side.

RSL HOST TEAM INTRODUCTION AT SCHEELS IN SANDY ON TUESDAY

Real Salt Lake will participate in a team introduction at Scheels in Sandy, Utah on Tuesday, March 18. The event will be held at the Scheels located at 11282 South State Street from 3:30-4:45 p.m. MT. The event is free and is the only full-team public appearance scheduled for the 2014 season.

The highlight of Real Week 2014, the team introduction at Scheels will officially present the entire 2014 Real Salt Lake player roster and its newly appointed coaching staff ahead of the Claret-and-Cobalt's home opener against LA Galaxy at Rio Tinto Stadium on March 22. Following the official team presentation, the players and coaches will be available for autograph signings for the rest of the event. A 2014 primary jersey signed by the team and an official 2014 FIFA World Cup soccer ball signed by RSL internationals Captain Kyle Beckerman, GK Nick Rimando and FW Alvaro Saborio will be auctioned off to fans. All proceeds from the auctions will go to the Sandy Club - a safe place for boys and girls.

REAL SALT LAKE NOMINATED FOR FOUR GOVERNOR'S STATE OF SPORT AWARDS

Real Salt Lake has been nominated in four categories for the third-annual Utah Governor's State of Sports Awards, hosted by the Utah Sports Commission and presented by Zions Bank. The annual awards celebrate the achievements made in high school, amateur, collegiate, Olympic and professional sports in the state of Utah in 2013.

RSL is nominated in two team categories and two individual categories. The club is one of six nominees for Utah Team of the Year, and the Claret-and-Cobalt's heartbreaking MLS Cup 2013 defeat at Sporting Kansas City is nominated for Game/Event of the Year. On the individual side, RSL Captain Kyle Beckerman is one of six nominees for Professional/Olympian Male Athlete of the Year, and RSL GK Nick Rimando's MLS Save of the Year-winning double save from last August against Colorado Rapids is up for Play/Highlight of the Year.

The winners of the Governor's State of Sport Awards will be determined by an online vote. Voting is now open for all 10 award categories at http://www.stateofsportawards.com/. The nominees were selected by a committee comprised of members of the sports media and community at large.

REAL SALT LAKE CLAIMS DRAMATIC 3-3 DRAW WITH SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Real Salt Lake (1-0-1, 4 points, West #2) picked up a road point at San Jose Earthquakes (0-0-1, 1 point, West #6) on Saturday night, tying their Western Conference rivals 3-3 at Buck Shaw Stadium. RSL came agonizingly close to leaving the Bay Area with all three points, but couldn't quite close out the Quakes, giving up a 95th minute goal to San Jose DF Victor Bernardez to draw 3-3.

San Jose took an early lead, getting a sixth minute goal from FW Chris Wondolowski to go up 1-0. RSL hit back with three unanswered goals before halftime, with Captain Kyle Beckerman equalizing with a fantastic 11th minute strike before FW Joao Plata scored in the 32nd and MF Luke Mulholland tallied in first half stoppage time to give RSL a 3-1 lead at the break. Unfortunately, the Claret-and-Cobalt couldn't hold onto its advantage, with Bernardez scoring in the 75th and 95th to give the Quakes a result.

RSL CAPTAIN KYLE BECKERMAN UP FOR MLS GOAL OF THE WEEK

RSL Captain Kyle Beckerman was nominated for MLS Goal of the Week on Monday. Beckerman is up for the honor for his fantastic one-time, left-footed blast from distance in the 11th minute of RSL's 3-3 draw at San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday. The goal is up against strikes from New York's Thierry Henry, Toronto's Jermain Defoe, Seattle's Clint Dempsey and San Jose's Victor Bernardez, who scored two second half goals to erase RSL's 3-1 halftime lead on Saturday.

RSL GK NICK RIMANDO UP FOR SECOND MLS SAVE OF THE WEEK OF 2014

Real Salt Lake GK Nick Rimando was nominated for his second MLS Save of the Week of 2014 on Monday. Rimando is nominated for his amazing reaction save on San Jose's Chris Wondolowski in Saturday's 3-3 draw at Buck Shaw Stadium. Rimando made the huge save in the 22nd minute when Wondolowski flicked a Shea Salinas cross on frame from the penalty spot. The header looked ticketed for the back of the net, but Rimando came up with a miraculous save, reaching back with his left hand to paw the ball off the line.

Rimando won the first MLS Save of the Week of 2014 for his penalty kick save on LA Galaxy's Robbie Keane in RSL's 1-0 season opening win at StubHub Center. Rimando won MLS Save of the Week nine times in 2013, finishing second in the league behind Portland's Donovan Ricketts who ended the season with 10 wins. The veteran RSL keeper has claimed 2012 and 2013 MLS Save of the Year honors.

REAL SALT LAKE 2014 SINGLE GAME TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

Single game tickets to all of the Claret-and-Cobalt's 2014 home games are now available for purchase. Fans can buy tickets at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office, over the phone at 801-727-2700 or online at http://www.realsaltlake.com/tickets.

Real Salt Lake will open its home schedule on March 22, when it will take on LA Galaxy at 2:00 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium. RSL has gone 1-0-1 in its first two matches of 2014, most recently tying San Jose Earthquakes 3-3 on Saturday at Buck Shaw Stadium. RSL defeated LA Galaxy 1-0 in its season opener at StubHub Center on March 8.

Single game Maverik Mayhem Corner vouchers ($16) will also be made available for fans to purchase beginning later this week. The vouchers can be redeemed in advance at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office for a ticket in the Maverik Mayhem Corner (sections 6 and 7) for all games in the 2014 RSL season ticket package. Maverik vouchers will be offered at Maverik locations across the Greater Salt Lake Area later this week. All participating Maverick locations can be found at http://www.realsaltlake.com/content/maverik-mayhem-corner.

Real Salt Lake fans have multiple ways to take part in the Claret-and-Cobalt's 10th season, including the option to purchase 2014 season tickets and an array of multi-game ticket packages.

Real Salt Lake 2014 season tickets are still available with great seat locations to be had. Fans can Join the Pride by purchasing season tickets at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office, online at www.realsaltlake.com/tickets/jointhepride or over the phone at 801-727-2700. Becoming a 2014 Season Ticket Holder guarantees the same seats for all MLS regular season home games and additional bonus games for a total of 20 home games.

A wide range of ticket packages are also available and descriptions of the plans can be found below.

Pride Starter Pack: The Pride Starter pack allows fans to create their own personalized "mini-plan." Fans can choose three or more regular season home games with the option to alter the number of seats, change sections and adjust price categories per game. Tickets for this package start at $22 per seat. For more details or to reserve your choice of games please call 810-727-2700.

Mini-Plans: The Mini-Plan packages include four preselected games with the option to adjust the specific games incorporated via phone. The four game Mini-Plans will be made available to purchase online and start at $88. If you'd like to make adjustments to one of the Mini-Plans please call 801-727-2700. Below are the available 2014 Mini-Plans:

Rivalry Pack (Mini-Plan): The Rivalry Pack consists of four of RSL's greatest rivalry matches of the 2014 season. The matches included are RSL's home opener against LA Galaxy on March 22, RSL v. Portland Timbers on April 19, RSL v. Colorado Rapids on May 17 and RSL v. Seattle Sounders FC on Aug. 16. The Rivalry Pack starts at $93.

Summer Fun Pack (Mini-Plan): The Summer Fun Pack consists of four exciting mid-summer games including Real Salt Lake's Independence Day and Pioneer Day games. The games in the package are: RSL v. Portland Timbers on June 7, RSL v. New England Revolution on July 4, RSL v. Montreal Impact on July 24 and RSL v. New York Red Bulls on July 30. The Summer Fun Pack starts at $98.

Weekend Warrior Pack (Mini-Plan): The Weekend Warrior Pack includes four exciting weekend matchups throughout the 2014 season. The games included are: RSL v. Toronto FC on March 29, RSL v. Vancouver Whitecaps FC on April 26, RSL v. FC Dallas on May 24 and RSL v. Vancouver Whitecaps FC on July 19. The Weekend Warrior Pack starts at $88.

Fall Pack (Mini-Plan): The Fall Pack consists of four key matches in the months of September and October: RSL v. FC Dallas on Sept. 6, RSL v. Colorado Rapids on Sept. 19, RSL v. San Jose Earthquakes on Oct. 11 and RSL's final game of the regular season against Chivas USA on Oct. 22. The Fall Pack starts at $88.

Additionally, Real Salt Lake's group sales team is now taking reservations for groups for the remaining inventory for each of the Claret-and-Cobalt's 2014 home games. For more information on group tickets please visit http://www.realsaltlake.com/tickets/groups or contact Scott Reynolds at 801-727-2862.

A full Real Salt lake 2014 regular season schedule can be found at http://www.realsaltlake.com/schedule.

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