2015 LAMAR HUNT U.S. OPEN CUP – ROUND OF 16
PREGAME FACTS AND INFO SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE v. PORTLAND TIMBERS FC
WED., JULY 1, 2015 – 8:00 pm MT on USsoccer.com/YouTube, ESPN700 & 102.3 LaGranD
0 – Previous RSL/Monarchs doubleheaders, with the first taking place TONIGHT, July 1, at Rio Tinto Stadium, as the Monarchs’ reception of defending USL champion Sacramento serves as the 5:00 p.m. MT undercard for the 8:00 p.m. MT Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 match between RSL and the Portland Timbers (MLS) … That match will mark the return of former DF Nat Borchers to Sandy, with the teams already slated to meet in mid-August in league play … The RSL/Timbers winner will host the LA/SJ winner in an Open Cup quarterfinal later this month, with …
2 – road games in June/July, as RSL defends its Rio Tinto Stadium fortress for 8 home games in 10 total matches (8 MLS games, 2 US Open Cup) from June 7 through July 24 … A 9-man RSL lost at New York Red Bulls last week, 0-1, while the team will head to Denver on July 11 … Another potential home match is in the offing, as an RSL Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup win on July 1 would allow Rio Tinto Stadium to host a USOC Quarterfinal against tonight’s SJ/LA winner later in July …
3 – goals scored in U.S. Open Cup play by the RSL quintet of Joao Plata, Devon Sandoval, Kyle Beckerman, Andy Williams and Jason Kreis, the most in club history … All of Sandoval’s goals came in 2013, while all of Plata’s have come in 2014 and 2015 …
4 – games involving red cards for RSL in its first 18 MLS matches this season, as last Wednesday’s 0-1 loss at NYRB saw both Javier Morales and Demar Phillips sent off on either side of halftime … That marked the 4th time in 395 MLS regular-season, playoff, Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League play that RSL was reduced to 9 men … The first time RSL fell down to nine was on Feb. 22, 2011 in a CCL game at Columbus, a 0-0 draw on a 22-degree frozen field, as both DF Tony Beltran and DF Nat Borchers were ejected, as was Crew FW Renteria … Last’s match marked the 2nd time in 2015 RSL fell victim to a pair of reds, as both DF Jamison Olave and FW Sebastian Saucedo were tossed in an 0-1 home loss on April 18 to Vancouver … Olave and FW Fabian Espindola were each ejected in an April, 2011 loss at San Jose …
5 – number of RSL games recently missed by RSL #SwissArmyKnife Jordan Allen, who has spent the last 4 weeks in Auckland, New Zealand, representing the USA in the FIFA Under-20 Youth World Championship … Expecting a deep run from the U.S., RSL played 4 league games (1-2-1) and this week’s Open Cup match between his post-Montreal departure and last week’s return for the U-20 quarterfinalist …
6 – games in an 18-day period for RSL, starting June 21 v Sporting Kansas City … RSL chartered to face New York Red Bulls last Wednesday, before hosting Columbus Crew SC in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Rio Tinto Stadium … Wednesday, July 1 sees RSL host Portland in LHUSOC Round of 16 action, prior to an Independence Day visit by Kaka and Orlando City on Sat., July 4 … Should RSL win tonight, it could host San Jose as early as NEXT WEDNESDAY to push the stretch to 8 games in 25 days … RSL then closes out the marathon with a Sat., July 11 visit to Denver to face the Colorado Rapids in the season’s second Rocky Mountain Cup matchup …
7 – consecutive playoff berths for RSL from 2008-14 (the longest active run in MLS), during which time the club has averaged 1.58 points per game) … RSL also owns a league-record 5 consecutive seasons with 15+ wins and 50+ points, matching LA’s active run from 2010 to present …
8 – hours back in the United States for RSL DF Elias Vasquez, who received his P-1 visa late Monday and a new passport yesterday in Guatemala, where he had been training since his national team eliminated Bermuda, 1-0, over 180 minutes in CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying on June 9 … Vasquez will likely spend less than 24 hours in Utah, as Guatemala faces the United States – including Nick Rimando and Kyle Beckerman – Friday, July 3, in Nashville in a Gold Cup tuneup …
9 – consecutive seasons in an RSL uniform for GK Nick Rimando, MF Kyle Beckerman & MF Javier Morales … The longest-tenured RSL men also rank 1-2 amongst Major League Soccer’s active leaders in games/starts/minutes (Rimando: 386/386/34,903; Beckerman: 369/340/30,532) … Morales has either scored or assisted on nearly 25% of the club’s all-time 452 goals scored, with the Argentine “maestro” tallying 40 goals and 70 assists, despite missing most of the 2011 season and all of 2005/06 and more than half of 2007 …
11 – the number of current RSL players potentially involved in national team call-ups this summer, as MF Jordan Allen (U.S. U-20 at FIFA Youth World Championship), DF Boyd Okwuonu (U.S. U-23s at Toulon tournament), MF Luis Gil (U.S. U-23s + full U.S. national team), GK Nick Rimando & MF Kyle Beckerman (full U.S. national team), FW Alvaro Saborio (Costa Rica), DF Abdoulie Mansally (The Gambia), DF Demar Phillips (Jamaica), DF Elias Vasquez (Guatemala), DF Justen Glad (U.S. U-18s) and FW Sebastian Saucedo (U.S. U-18s) all could disappear for one or more games at a time …
13 – wins needed by RSL GK Nick Rimando in 2015 to become Major League Soccer’s all-time leader in that category, overtaking Kevin Hartman … Rimando now has 121 career shutouts, 9 more than Hartman in 33 fewer games all-time …
23 – players to have started a game for RSL this year in the club’s first 18 MLS games this season, as DF Justen Glad made his first XI debut May 30 in Vancouver and rookie DFs Phanuel Kavita (starting) & Boyd Okwuonu (sub) each appeared on Saturday for their MLS debuts … RSL boss Jeff Cassar has given 26 players league minutes this year, meaning everyone on the roster except GK Lalo Fernandez (MF Fito Ovalle is on a season-long loan to the USL Monarchs) have seen MLS time …
26 – all-time PK denials by RSL GK Nick Rimando, who went 3-for-5 against opponents in his last eight games – denying Rapids MF Dillon Powers on June 7 to preserve a home point … Opposing PK takers have seen their conversion rates now drop to 43-for-70 against Rimando all-time, including 22-for-40 with Nick in an RSL uniform … Amazingly, Rimando has stopped 9 of the last 13 PKs faced and 11 of the last 17 … #WalloftheWasatch indeed …
26 – wins when FW Alvaro Saborio is not available at all for RSL due to suspension, injury or national team duty, the club recording a 26-13-9 mark in those instances … RSL is 43-6-13 mark all-time when the Costa Rican international finds the back of the net, but only 22-37-26 when he plays and doesn’t score …
27 – game-winning goals in the 75th minute or later for RSL in its 395-game all competition history, after the June 21 extra-time game-winner by FW Olmes Garcia to give RSL a 2-1 W over Kansas City … The Colombian forward had gone more than 1,050 minutes between goals, dating back to last August in Dallas …
59 – number of players in RSL’s 11-year, 125-player history to have scored at least one goal for the Claret-and-Cobalt, now that FW Sebastian Jaime opened his MLS account Sunday against Kansas City …
71 – minutes between goals by FWs Alvaro Saborio (7) and Joao Plata (78) in RSL’s 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal against Portland, back on August 7, 2013, when RSL and the Timbers faced each other 4 times in 24 days across Open Cup and MLS play … The “other” maestro, Diego Valeri, scored a 90’ goal to provide a few tense minutes of stoppage time as RSL advanced to host that year’s final, falling to D.C. United, 0-1 …
$250,000 – prize money granted by U.S. Soccer to the winning team in the Open Cup, the 17 American-based MLS sides requiring five wins to earn that cash as well as a berth in the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League …
