SANDY, Utah (Friday, April 24, 2015) – Real Salt Lake hits the road for the third time in its last four games, closing out the month of April with a trip to suburban Boston, Massachusetts to face defending Eastern Conference champion New England Revolution Saturday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, a game which reunites dreadlocked United States 2014 FIFA World Cup teammates Jermaine Jones and Kyle Beckerman, who face each other in MLS play for the first time. Local TV coverage kicks off on KMYU (2.2 air / 12 satellite / 22+643 Comcast) at 5:00 p.m. MT, with the game also carried on ESPN700 (4:30 p.m. MT pre-game) and La Gran D 102.3 FM.
Real Salt Lake (2-1-3, 9 points, West 7) saw its five-game unbeaten run to start 2015 snapped with a rare home loss last weekend, dropping an 0-1 decision to the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps – currently atop the Major League Soccer standings entering week eight – and finishing the match with just nine men. Red cards adjudicated against DF Jamison Olave and FW Sebastian Saucedo further deplete the options for RSL boss Jeff Cassar, as the team will miss DF Chris Schuler (knee), MF Javier Morales (hamstring), FW Joao Plata (foot) and FW Sebastian Jaime (fibula) due to injury.
Five additional RSL players are participating with United States Youth National Teams this week, as MF Luis Gil and DF Boyd Okwuonu appeared in the U-23’s 3-0 win over Mexico on Wednesday – Gil, wearing the captain’s armband, starting, playing a full 90 and providing the game-winning assist, while Okwuonu played the final 25 minutes at right back. FW Jordan Allen – who has burst on the scene this year with two starts in his last three games after heading home the game winner against Toronto on March 29 – played the final 45 minutes in the U-20’s 2-2 draw with Qatar in Austria Tuesday, while DF Justen Glad and FW Saucedo are in Bosnia with the U-18s for a preparatory camp.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake @ New England Revolution
• Coverage Begins: 5:00 p.m. MT
• TV: KMYU – David James & Brian Dunseth
• English Radio: ESPN700 AM (4:30 p.m. MT) – Bill Riley, Jeremy Horton & Brian Kamler
• Spanish Radio: 102.3 La Gran D FM / 1600 AM – Nelson Moran
• Online: The @RealSaltLake Twitter Feed will provide match updates
Game Guide for Saturday’s RSL @ NE Match Now Available Online
Following is the link to the Adobe PDF version of the MLS Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Vancouver.
Click here to download the PDF version of the MLS Game Guide for Saturday’s RSL-NE matchup
RSL History v. New England Revolution
RSL returns to Gillette Stadium for the first time since 2013, having won in each of the club’s last three visits to Foxborough and owning an all-time 4-2-2 mark on the road against the Revolution, RSL’s only +.500 road record in club annals. RSL is unbeaten in its last seven games against New England, winning six, the Claret-and-Cobalt’s last loss to the Revs coming in August, 2009. FW Kheli Dube scored a hat trick that night for NE, one of five conceded by the club in its 382-game MLS, playoff, Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League history.
In RSL’s last visit to Foxborough, in May, 2013, rookies Devon Sandoval and Olmes Garcia provided late goals in the final 15 minutes to overcome an 0-1 deficit, while GK Nick Rimando parried away a stoppage-time penalty kick to secure the three points. The April, 2011 visit by RSL saw 2nd-year players Chris Schuler and Paulo Junior provide the goals in a reserve-laden performance, just 72 hours after RSL’s road goal at Saprissa launched the club into the CCL Final.
All-time, RSL boasts a 9-4-4 overall record against New England, including the two biggest home wins in club history – 6-0 and 5-0 Rio Tinto Stadium scorelines in 2009 and 2010. Overall, RSL has outscored the Revs 34-21 on aggregate.
RSL Streaking Against Eastern Conference Opponents
RSL hits the road this weekend in Foxborough, Mass., seeking to extend the club’s 12-game unbeaten run against Eastern foes. RSL has enjoyed a perfect 2014/15 against East teams, with a 7-0-5 overall mark, outscoring the East 28-14, including a 5-0-1 home mark with a 14/4 goal differential. RSL’s last loss to an East team? July 20, 2013 at home against Sporting Kansas City, now in the West.
Busy May Around the Corner for RSL; Open Cup / CCL Paths Determined
In addition to a total of SEVEN league matches during the month of May, kicking off with a two-game Rio Tinto Stadium homestand on Friday, May 1 vs. San Jose and Wednesday, May 6 against Los Angeles, RSL expects to gain clarity on a pair of non-MLS fronts during the month.
In mid-May, RSL should receive from CONCACAF the group assignments from the draw for the 2015/16 Champions League tourney, with two home games and two away scheduled during six possible matchdates in August/September/October. Late in the month, RSL and the other U.S.-based MLS sides should receive an idea on dates/times/opponents and sites for the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament, which sees the Round of 32 kickoff in mid-June for the Major League Soccer teams.
RSL experiences a pair of two-game road trips in May sandwiched around the much-anticipated visit on Saturday, May 23, from former captain/head coach Jason Kreis and expansion NYCFC, the new home for such RSL luminaries as Ned Grabavoy, Chris Wingert, Mehdi Ballouchy, Josh Saunders, Kwame Watson-Siriboe and Sebastian Velazquez.
The weekends of May 9 and 16 sees RSL travel to Chicago and Montreal for a pair of Eastern Conference road trips, while Wednesday, May 27 involves a return trip to LA – the club’s first since last Fall’s 0-5 playoff elimination at the Stubhub Center – and a continuation up the West Coast to Vancouver on Saturday, May 30, the first game on the new BC Place turf being installed for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
