SANDY, Utah (Monday, June 13, 2016) – Rio Tinto Stadium reopens TOMORROW, TUESDAY, June 14 after a six-week midseason hiatus, as Real Salt Lake hosts the Wilmington Hammerheads (USL) in a Fourth-Round Match in the 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Kickoff is at 8:00 p.m. MT in the 103rd edition of U.S. Soccer’s longest ongoing tourney.
The match will be included in 2016 Real Salt Lake Season Ticket Memberships by using “BONUS GAME A” from printed or electronic full-season packages. RSL and Real Monarchs season ticket members also have an opportunity to secure additional seats, with preferred prices varying by location and ranging from $15 to $60. RSL and Monarchs STM’s can call 801.727.2702.
Tickets to Rio Tinto Stadium’s Grand Reopening start at just $20 via the stadium box office, www.RSL.com or by calling 844.Real.Tix. All ticketholders for the Tuesday, June 14 contest will be able to experience a revamped “Carnival Real” on the Stadium’s East Lawn Prior to kickoff, the Sandy venue’s remodeled State Street side now upgraded to include a pre-game concert from local favorites The Strikeand a fan zone which features a mini Foot-Golf course, a 35-foot obstacle course, inflatables, a new playground, multiple food trucks and many other exciting features. RSL and Monarchs players will also sign autographs leading up to kick.
The 8:00 p.m. MT kickoff will be the first on Rio Tinto Stadium’s new surface, replaced after the club’s victory over Houston on April 30 during RSL’s recent five-game road trip, which concluded 10 days ago with a 3-2 win over NYCFC at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, RSL scoring three goals in three consecutive games for the first time in the club’s 367-game MLS history.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake v. Wilmington Hammerheads (USL) in U.S. Open Cup
- Coverage Begins: 7:00 p.m. MT
- TV: none
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM – Bill Riley, Jay Nolly, Spencer Warne & Jeremy Horton
- Spanish Radio: 102.3 La Gran D FM / 1600 AM – Nelson Moran & Fernando Hortal
- Online: The @RealSaltLake Twitter feed provides updates
Game Guide for Tuesday’s RSL v. Wilmington #USOC2016 Matchup Available Online
The link to the Adobe PDF version of the MLS Game Guide in advance of Tuesday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Wilmington is available HERE.
RSL owns an all-time 8-2-0 record at Rio Tinto Stadium in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play, outscoring visitors 21-10. Against lower-division clubs, RSL is 5-1-0 at home, losing its 2012 Round of 32 match before more than 17,000+ in a 1-3 shocker to the Minnesota Stars of the NASL. The following year saw RSL host five consecutive games en route to the 2013 LHUSOC Final, which it ultimately lost, 0-1, to D.C. United.
Including MLS “qualifiers” or “play-in” games from 2007-10, RSL’s all-time record in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup contests is 11-11-1, the lone draw at San Jose seeing RSL advance via shootout at Buck Shaw Stadium. All-time, RSL has outscored opponents 41-39 in LHUSOC competition.
Wilmington – the former home for RSL MF Luke Mulholland – won 6-0 in mid-May against the NPSL’s Miami Fusion to advance to its 2-1 third-round win over NASL-based Miami FC. The Hammerheads arrive at Rio Tinto Stadium for an Open Cup match for the second time in its history, as RSL won 2-0 over the minor-league side back in July, 2011, as DF Tony Beltran scored his lone professional goal in more than 16,000+ minutes. That match was RSL’s first-ever Open Cup match at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Major League Soccer sides have won each of the last 16 Open Cup titles, each earning a berth into the subsequent year’s CONCACAF Champions League. A year ago, RSL was eliminated from contention at the Semifinal stage by eventual champion Sporting Kansas City at what is now known as Children’s Mercy Park. RSL won three consecutive home matches prior to the semifinal trip to Kansas, downing the Seattle Sounders’ USL affiliate prior to eliminating two long-time Western Conference rivals, Portland Timbers and LA Galaxy.
For more information, please visit www.USsoccer.com/lamar-hunt-us-open-cup.
2016 RSL / #USOC2016 NOTES –
RSL v. WILMINGTON – Tues., June 14, 2016 – 8:00 p.m. MT
SUMMER GETAWAY AT THE RIOT IN SANDY: Following the field renovation and the league-wide Copa America break in early June, RSL will play five of its next six and seven of its next nine at home, leading into the annual MLS All-Star Break in late July … Rio Tinto Stadium also will host a Liga MX friendly on Friday, June 24 between Mexican powers Xolos de Tijuana and Santos Laguna, while RSL faces its first-ever European club at the RioT on Tuesday, July 19, as legendary side Inter Milan arrives in Utah … On top of those nine home games in the next five weeks, should RSL progress through the Open Cup with a win Tuesday against Wilmington, the club could host #USOC2016 matches on Tuesday, June 28 and/or Wednesday, July 20 … U.S. Soccer will conduct the draw to set the bracket and scenarios for the remaining Open Cup stages this Thursday morning, June 16 …
RSL will also enjoy another late-season stretch at home, playing six out of eight at Rio Tinto Stadium from late August to late October, prior to the season finale at Seattle on Oct. 23 …
RSL SEEKS TO RESTORE ROAR AT RIOT FORTRESS: While RSL is a perfect 4-0-0 in MLS play (and 0-0-1 in CCL) so far this season, the club ended its disappointing 2015 campaign with a 12-4-6 record at home across all competitions (just a 7-4-6 RioT mark in MLS play), with the pair of late-season 0-1 losses to Portland & Dallas just the club’s 4th & 5th home shutouts suffered in its last 47 home games overall, dating back to the 2013 Open Cup Final ... The six draws at home last year equaled the club’s all-time season high, set in 2006 and 2008 ...
Last year’s ignominy snapped a 7-year run that had seen RSL average 2.00 points per game or more at home each MLS season from 2008-14, as well as a 5-year streak of 10 or more home wins in league play … With recent 1-goal home wins over Seattle, Vancouver, Colorado and Houston, RSL is a perfect 4-0-0 (3.00 points-per-game) this season …
Since the beginning of 2008, RSL now boasts a 102-22-40 mark in its last 164 home games (all comps) in that span, during which it has outscored opponents by 172 goals (289-117), with an 81-17-36 reg. season mark (236/96), the 8-1-2 CCL record (21/7), 5-2-2 playoffs (11/4), as well as an 8-2-0 Open Cup mark (21/10) ...
EARLY PACING STILL BODES WELL FOR RSL: Last time out, RSL’s come-from-behind 3-2 win at Yankee Stadium against NYCFC improved RSL to 7-4-2 and 23 points from 13 games, the Claret-and-Cobalt one of Major League Soccer’s top two teams with a 1.77 points-per-game average (RSL trails only Colorado at 2.00 ppg) … RSL remains on a club-record pace for 60 points in 2016, pacing which could (should?) improve once the club returns to Rio Tinto Stadium, where six of RSL’s eight MLS games between mid-June and late July will occur …
ORIGINAL RIOT PITCH REPLACEMENT: Random facts and figures for the original Rio Tinto Stadium pitch, from Oct. 9, 2008 through April 30, 2016:
YEAR RECORD OVERALL
2008: 2-1-1
2009: 10-1-5 (12- 2- 6)
2010: 14-0-5 (26- 2-11)
2011: 14-4-4 (40- 6-15)
2012: 12-6-3 (52-12-18)
2013: 16-4-4 (68-16-22)
2014: 11-1-6 (79-17-28)
2015: 12-4-6 (91-21-34)
2016: 4-0-1 (95-21-35)
MLS Regular Season: 74-16-31 (2.09 PPG)
CONCACAF Champions League: 8-1-2 (2.36 PPG)
MLS Cup Playoffs: 5-2-2 (1.89 PPG)
U.S. Open Cup: 8-2-0 (2.40 PPG)
Largest Crowd: 21,004 – 9/19/15 (3-0 W over LA Galaxy)
Smallest Crowd: 7,620 – 6/28/11 [2-0 W over Wilmington (USOC)]
First Win: Oct. 18, 2008; 3-1 v FC Dallas
First Goal: Jamison Olave, 42’ equalizer, 10/9/08 v NYRB
First Shutout: Nick Rimando, 11/1/08 v Chivas USA
First Playoff Win/Shutout: Nov. 1, 2008; 1-0 v Chivas USA
First Playoff Goal: Yura Movsisyan, game-winner, 11/1/08 v Chivas
First CCL Win: Aug. 18, 2010; 2-1 v Arabe Unido (PAN)
First CCL Goal: Alvaro Saborio, 8/18/10 v Arabe Unido (PAN)
First CCL Shutout: Nick Rimando, 3/15/11 v Saprissa (CRC)
151st Game: April 30, 2016; 2-1 W v Houston Dynamo (95-21-35 overall mark)
Last Goal: Yura Movsisyan, 70’ game-winner, 4/30/16 v Houston
Last Shutout: Nick Rimando, 4/16/16 v Vancouver
