MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Weekly Update

Published on February 19, 2018 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


HERRIMAN, Utah - Real Salt Lake continues training in Orlando, Florida while Real Monarchs carry on preseason in Herriman. Utah Royals FC officially opened its first ever preseason by beginning training on Monday at the Zions Bank Real Academy. The U-17 Academy sides attended the GA Cup in Los Angeles where it played three matches. Here is what you need to know at the club this week:

Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake played a pair of scrimmages on Saturday morning to wrap up a busy first week of training in Orlando, Florida. Playing against Orlando City SC on the Florida club's training field, RSL Head Coach Mike Petke was able to get 18 field players 75 minutes of action in tuning up for the season-opening match on March 3 against FC Dallas.

In the first 75 minutes, Real Salt Lake fell behind 3-0 after turnovers in bad areas of the field led to quick-strike opportunities for Orlando. RSL pulled two goals back in an energized final 30 minutes through Joao Plata and Luis Silva, but ultimately couldn't find an equalizer.

The second 75 minutes saw Orlando nab two goals from similar circumstances, as giveaways created scoring chances before the defense could recover.

Among the pertinent notes from the match was 19-year-old midfielder Pablo Ruiz making his first preseason appearance after arriving in camp on Tuesday. He played the final 30 minutes of the second match.

Winger Jefferson Savarino also made his first preseason appearance. He had missed the first matches while recovering from surgery to remove his appendix and played 75 minutes on Saturday. In the first 30 minutes of the match he played two balls that might have set up goals on another day when finishing was sharper, but RSL came up empty on both occasions.

In an innovative and unprecedented technological endeavor, Real Salt Lake has partnered with KSL to digitally deliver more than 200 hours of live professional games featuring RSL, Utah Royals FC and Real Monarchs via streaming to fans across Utah and surrounding communities, RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen, KSL Vice President Tanya Vea and Deseret Digital Media President Greg Peterson jointly announced last week.

The introduction of the multi-year digital streaming partnership delivers each live three-hour Real Salt Lake game window and two-hour Utah Royals FC and Real Monarchs contests, select RSL Academy home games, as well as weekly highlight, magazine and coach's shows and other ancillary content to users' phones, tablets and streaming devices via the "KSL TV" application and www.KSL.com.

Tickets to see RSL in 2018 can be purchased at RSL.com or by calling 844.REAL.TIX.

Utah Royals FC

Utah Royals FC officially began its preseason on Monday morning with head coach Laura Harvey guiding the team through its first ever training session.

Midfielder Gunny saying after the first session: "After day one I'm speechless. You can tell that this is very strong group of girls even after just the first day. I think we're all striving for greatness and we're all willing to put in the work to be the best."

The club opened its inaugural session by becoming acquainted with the Zions Bank Training Center turf in Herriman where the team will train before departing for Los Angeles for a five-day trip in Southern California. While in LA, the team will play a match against UCLA on Friday, March 16 at 10:00a MT. Prior to its trip to California, Utah Royals FC will play a friendly match against BYU on Saturday March 3 with a kick-off time still TBD.

Last Friday Utah Royals FC together with Club Owner Dell Loy Hansen unveiled the $1 million locker room at Rio Tinto Stadium as the team becomes familiar with its new home.

"We set a goal to make this the best women's team in the world, and if that's our goal, then we need to provide nothing less than the best," Real Salt Lake and Utah Royals FC owner Dell Loy Hansen explained at the inaugural team dinner last Thursday night.

After seeing the locker room for the very first time, most players were left speechless while others shrieked in amazement at the sight of the new amenities.

"This has been emotional for me. I've been playing professionally for a number of years, and I've lived apart from my boyfriend for all of them. So [playing professionally] is a conscious decision that I have to make every single year," USWNT co-captain Becky Sauerbrunn explained. "To have someone like Dell Loy that recognizes the sacrifices that we make - to make that a little bit easier - is wonderful. We got emotional because there are husbands, there are partners, there are children that are being left behind."

Utah Royals FC season tickets are now on sale to the general public and fans can call 844.REAL.TIX now to claim their seats.

Real Monarchs SLC

Last Friday Real Monarchs SLC announced the signings of MF Josh Heard and DF Rhys Williams ahead of the 2018 season, announced Monarchs Assistant General Manager Dan Egner.

Heard, 23, was selected 71st overall by the Vancouver Whitecaps in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft and subsequently landed with Bethlehem Steel FC of the United Soccer League's Eastern Conference. Heard spent his first-two professional seasons with Steel FC in 2016 and 2017 where he amassed 1,123 minutes across 38 matches played. Heard made 11 starts for Steel FC, scoring twice and assisting once during his time in Pennsylvania. Prior to his professional career, Heard played college soccer at the University of Washington where he featured in 55 matches, starting 32 while scoring 12 goals and assisting on six occasions.

Williams, 22, last featured for the New York Cosmos B in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) where he tallied three goals and registered four assists. Prior to his time with the Cosmos, Williams featured in 49 matches for the Columbia University Lions, making 35 starts. Williams scored seven goals while assisting five times in his college career.

The Real Monarchs training schedule from Feb. 20 to Feb. 25 is as follows, with all sessions held indoors at the Zions Bank Training Center:

Tuesday, Feb. 20: 10:00a MT

Wednesday, Feb. 21: 10:00a MT "¨ "¨

Thursday, Feb. 22: 10:00a MT "¨ "¨

Friday, Feb. 23: 10:00a MT"¨ "¨

Saturday, Feb 24: 4:00p Scrimmage

Sunday, Feb 25: OFF

Tickets to see the Monarchs in the inaugural season at the new 5,000 seat Zions Bank Stadium on the campus of the $78 million Zions Bank Real Academy are available here: www.RSL.com/Monarchs/Schedule.

Real Salt Lake Academy

The RSL Academy U-17s traveled to Los Angeles, California last weekend to take part in the year's first Generation adidas Spring Regional event. The U-17s fell to the Portland Timbers last Friday 4-1 with MF Noah Beck scoring the lone goal before dropping a 3-0 result to the Seattle Sounders last Saturday.

To cap the regional event was a match against the San Jose Earthquakes where the Academy topped the Earthquakes 1-0 on Monday morning to as FW Julian Vazquez notched the game-winner.

Both Academy teams will return to U.S. Soccer Development Academy action on February 24 against FC Golden State at the Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman. The U-17s will open proceedings at 11:00 a.m. before the U-19s match at 1:30 p.m. The Academy's full match schedule can be viewed here: rsla.ussoccerda.com.

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