MLS Real Salt Lake

RSL Host Seattle Sounders FC in Independence Day Clash

Published on July 3, 2012 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SANDY, Utah (Tuesday, July 3, 2012) - Real Salt Lake (10-6-2, 32 pts; West #2) kicks off July with four home games out of five by welcoming West rival Seattle Sounders FC (7-5-5, 26 pts; West #3) on Wednesday, July 4 at Rio Tinto Stadium, in RSL's eighth annual Independence Day celebration, complete with a post-game fireworks show.

Live television coverage of the 8:00 p.m. MT kickoff will air on CW30 with hosts Bill Riley and Brian Dunseth, and conclude with the 10:00 p.m. MT showing of the 30-minute RAM TRUCKS post-game show. Fans can also follow the action via the team's official radio partners: ESPN 700/ESPN700Sports.com and La Gran D 102.3 FM, and by live Twitter updates on Twitter.com/RealSaltLake .

Both teams look to earn a critical three points in Saturday's match. The Seattle Sounders FC are fresh off a 2-2 tie with New England and have not recorded a win since May 9, their eight-game winless streak in MLS play commencing with RSL's 1-0 win on May 12 at Century Link Field.

The Claret-and-Cobalt - which dropped back-to-back home MLS matches June 20 and June 23 for the first time since October, 2007 - seek to snap a three-game MLS losing streak, as well as an unprecedented three-game Rio Tinto Stadium losing streak in all competitions, its longest home skid since its inaugural 2005 season, when the 5-22-5 expansion club dropped its final six home matches.

However, despite back-to-back MLS home losses to Los Angeles (June 20) and San Jose (June 23), Real Salt Lake's record of 10-6-2 (32 points) through 18 games is second only to its 2010 start and its 4-3-2 road mark is the best in the team's eight-year history, surpassing the 3-4-2 road mark during its record-setting 2010 season.

How to Follow Real Salt Lake v. Seattle Sounders

- Kickoff: 8:00 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium

- TV: CW30 w/ Bill Riley & Brian Dunseth (RAM TRUCKS post-game coverage at 10:00 p.m. MT)

- Radio: ESPN700 (Pre/post game begins at 7:00 p.m. MT)

- Radio: 102.3 FM "La Gran D" / 1600 AM w/ Nelson Moran & Fernando Hortal

- Real Salt Lake will attempt to snap a three-game losing skid, the club's longest such streak since it lost four games in a row late in the 2011 season

- RSL captain Kyle Beckerman is set to return to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension in last Saturday's loss at Columbus

- Seattle comes into the match riding a franchise record eight-game MLS winless streak

- Seattle will be without star defensive midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, who is suspended for the match due to yellow card accumulation

RSL History v. Seattle Sounders

Last season, both teams attained 2-1 wins on the road in regular-season meetings - Seattle Sounders on May 28 at Rio Tinto, and RSL on September 10, in a game marred by first-half red cards to Tony Beltran and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. Seattle then won 2-0 against RSL in the home leg of the 2011 MLS Western Conference Semifinals, falling a goal shy of forcing overtime due to RSL's 3-0 dominance in the first leg.

All-time, RSL is 4-4-2 against Seattle, including a 3-2-2 record in regular-season play. Each team has won a playoff game against the other, with only the 2009 MLS play-in victory by Seattle in a preliminary round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tipping the scales.

In their last meeting on May 12, 2012, RSL earned 3 points on the road with a 1-0 win at Century Link Stadium. FW Fabian Espindola found the back of the net for the game's only goal early on in the second half, the opportunity created by 18-year old MF Luis Gil and FW Alvaro Saborio.

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