Grand Junction, Colo. (Wed., March 18, 2015) - Real Monarchs SLC concluded its first-ever preseason with a 1-0 win over USL Western Conference foe Colorado Springs Switchbacks Wednesday night, riding a shared clean sheet from two goalkeepers and a series of passes for a classic team goal, finished by MF Ricardo Velazco.
In the 61st minute, Velasco was set up by midfield compatriots Lucas Baldin and Coco Navarro, his longtime teammate at the RSL-Arizona academy in Casa Grande. Ariz. the former Louisville standout finished the play from the top of the box for what proved to be the game-winner. Baldin nearly added an insurance tally 10 minutes from time, but his free kick from 22 yards out slammed off the crossbar.
First-year professional goalkeepers Victor Rodriguez (New Mexico) and Eric Osswald (Xavier) each posted 45 minutes of shutout soccer for Head Coach Freddy Juarez' team, which also defeated Weber State (3-0) and Utah Valley University (1-0) in the last two weeks in the club's previous preseason exhibitions.
WATCH: Monarchs Head Coach Freddy Juarez, DF Jordan Murrell, hometown MF Garrett Losee, MF Ricardo Velazco & FW Emery Welshman preview 2015: //www.realsaltlake.com/video/2015/03/18/real-monarchs-2015-media-day
Juarez - a native of Las Cruces, New Mexico who has several years of experience at the RSL-AZ Academy and recently participated in a two-year Major League Soccer program with the French Football Federation - leads the Monarchs into its inaugural season with kickoff this Sunday at 6:00 p.m. MT. against LA Galaxy II, the first of two road games prior to the club's first-ever home match on Wed., April 8, at Rio Tinto Stadium.
LISTEN: Monarchs Head Coach Freddy Juarez previews Sunday at LA with Matt Gaschk on the Claret & Cobalt Daily Podcast :: //www.realsaltlake.com/news/2015/03/claret-and-cobalt-daily-episode-12-march-17-2015
Sunday's game will be played in Carson, Calif., on the campus of Cal State-Dominguez Hills against "#LosDos," the lone previous MLS-operated organization to call USL home in 2014.
Utah soccer fans can watch the club's inaugural game Sunday LIVE from Southern California via www.RealMonarchs.com.
TICKET INFORMATION Monarchs single-game tickets are NOW on sale for the USL club’s Inaugural Season, the club announced today. All Monarchs seating will be on West Side of Rio Tinto Stadium, with tickets ranging from $11 / $14 / $17 and $25. Group Seats begin at just $8 each, with a meal deal added for just $4 more. Contact Group Events for more details at 801.727.2862 or visit http://realmonarchs.com/tickets/group-tickets/.
Monarchs Season Tickets remain on sale as well with the nearly 15,000 existing Real Salt Lake PRIDE members receiving preferred pricing to become a Monarchs Founding Member, while the general public can #EmbraceTheFuture starting at just $8 per game in the club’s 14-game package. Packages for the 2015 season, which start at just $112 for lower bowl seating, allow extraordinary access to Rio Tinto Stadium, home of Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake, the Monarchs' parent club.
A new “Family Food and Drink” season-ticket package has been added for just $154 for the 14-game season, with each game ticket including a hotdog, a soft drink and popcorn.
ABOUT THE MONARCHS Real Slat Lake Owner Dell Loy Hansen has formed the Monarchs as an elite lower-division professional squad which bridges the gap between Real Salt Lake and the club’s highly-lauded academy at the Grande Sports complex in Arizona, which has produced a perennial pipeline of NCAA Division I players, young professionals and has consistently competed for numerous national championships at the U-18 and U-16 levels in recent years.
The club has ambitiously announced plans to break ground later this year on an 8,000-seat stadium in West Valley City, near the Maverik Center, on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley. The future home of the Monarchs, an NWSL club, and other ancillary professional and community events could open in 2017.
ABOUT USL The rising tide of soccer across North America is unstoppable. The world’s game will also be the No. 1 sport here, in time. Never before has the time been more right for the USL to rise to the occasion and be recognized as the new-generation professional league it has become. Now is our time. Soccer is rising, and so is the USL. This season, we will boast 24 competing clubs, a number that has doubled since 2011. Since then, more than 1.7 million committed soccer fans have passed through the turnstiles in support of their local clubs. The USL is rising.
The 2015 season will feature the debuts of 13 new USL clubs - seven of which will be owned and operated by MLS clubs - in Austin, Charlotte, Colorado Springs, Louisville, Montreal (Impact), New York (Red Bulls), Portland (Timbers), Saint Louis, Salt Lake (RSL), Seattle (Sounders FC), Toronto (FC), Tulsa, and Vancouver (Whitecaps FC).
