SANDY, Utah (Friday, May 27, 2016) – Real Salt Lake hits the road again Saturday at Columbus against the Crew at 5:30 p.m. MT in the fourth of five consecutive road matches while Rio Tinto Stadium undergoes installation of a new surface. Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s team (6-3-2, 20 points, 3rd in MLS w/ 1.82 points-per-game) seeks to capitalize on the momentum of last Saturday’s 3-1 win at rival Kansas City, the club searching for its first consecutive road wins since May 3-14, 2014.
RSL has won just once all-time in MLS regular-season play at Columbus, defeating the Crew, 2-1, back in August, 2006, as midfielders Carey Talley and Chris Klein sparked the Claret-and-Cobalt’s first-ever road comeback. Despite a dismal 1-7-1 all-time MLS mark in Ohio against the Crew during the regular season, RSL has gained results at Columbus when stakes were highest, winning 3-2 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs, and drawing 0-0 during the 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal Leg One.
This weekend’s match will be televised in Utah via KMYU (English, David James & Brian Dunseth) or heard via RSL outlets ESPN700 AM (English, Bill Riley, Jay Nolly, Spencer Warne & Jeremy Horton) & 102.3 FM / 1600 AM (Spanish, Fernando Hortal & Nelson Moran). Pre-game coverage airs live locally on ESPN700 AM at 4:30 p.m. MT, while KMYU’s three-hour window kicks off at 5:00 p.m. MT live from Columbus.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake at Columbus Crew
- Coverage Begins: 5:00 p.m. MT
- TV: KMYU (2.2 air / 12 satellite / 643 Comcast HD) – David James & Brian Dunseth
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (4:30 p.m. MT) – 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 Saturday’s RSL at Columbus Matchup Available Online
The link to the Adobe PDF version of the MLS Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Columbus is available by clicking HERE.
2016 REAL SALT LAKE NOTES –
RSL @ COLUMBUS CREW – Sat., May 28, 2016 – 5:30 p.m. MT
SHOWING NO MERCY AT KANSAS CITY: Both of RSL’s road wins this season have come at Children’s Mercy Park against Sporting Kansas City, who defeated RSL in MLS Cup 2013 and in last year’s Open Cup Semifinal at the venue …
Last week, RSL rode an exquisite passing sequence featuring FW Joao Plata, MF Javier Morales and FW Juan Manuel Martinez for the game’s first goal, then doubled the lead just before halftime when FW Yura Movsisyan slammed a close-range cross off Brad Davis for a KC own goal …
While Dom Dwyer pulled one back for KC in the opening minutes of the 2nd 45’, Captain Kyle Beckerman – playing in his last MLS game prior to his USA inclusion for the Copa America Centenario – picked the pocket of Benny Feilhaber to spring Movsisyan 60 yards downfield, Yura chipping former RSL GK Tim Melia for a 3-1 lead, which would serve as the final margin …
Back on April 2 RSL was missing five starters due to suspension (Beckerman, Martinez, Olave) or injury (Rimando, Morales) – but rode goals from DF Justen Glad and MF Luke Mulholland to a 2-0 lead, before a late PK halved the lead and denied Jeff Attinella the clean sheet …
All-told, RSL has this year extended its reg. season unbeaten run against Sporting to 6 games, gaining the full 6 points from 2 visits in 2016 to KC, starting 15 different players and seeing another three participate …
RIOT RE-OPENS TUE., JUNE 14 FOR OPEN CUP ACTION: U.S. Soccer announced a week ago Thursday that Rio Tinto Stadium will reopen after a six-week midseason hiatus to host a Fourth-Round Match in the 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, as Real Salt Lake returns to Utah soil on Tuesday, June 14 at 8:00 p.m. MT … The Claret-and-Cobalt face off against the Third-Round winner of the Wilmington Hammerheads (USL) at Miami FC (NASL), who compete on the first day of June for the right to travel to Sandy in the 103rd edition of U.S. Soccer’s longest ongoing tourney …
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 …
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 … RSL also sees another late-season stretch of six out of eight at home from late August to late October, prior to the season finale at Seattle on Oct. 23 …
RSL SEEKS TO RESTORE ROAR AT RIOT FORTRESS: RSL ended its disappointing 2015 campaign with a home 12-4-6 record 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 in its last 47 home games overall, dating back to the 2013 Open Cup Final ... The six draws at home 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 week’s 3-1 win at Kansas City improved RSL to 6-3-2 and 20 points from 11 games, boosting the Claret-and-Cobalt into the top three teams with a 1.82 points-per-game average (RSL trails both Colorado – 2.08 – and Dallas – 1.86, while it is tied with LA), RSL remains on a record pace for 62 points in 2016, a pacing which could 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 …
GLAD, MAUND SHOWING METTLE IN THE MIDDLE: After posting a 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, RSL is now a perfect 5-0-0 when starting DF Justen Glad and Aaron Maund together, sporting a cool 0.44 goals against average in the 401 minutes they have played in tandem …
Maund saw rapid growth last season, going from just 432 minutes played in 2014 to 1,974 minutes played and voted by his peers as the club’s Defender of the Year in 2015 …
Meanwhile, Glad saw his path from the RSL-Arizona Academy take a dramatic turn this year, as the 19-year-old defender bypassed a scholarship to Stanford to come to RSL and last year saw action in seven matches at the MLS level and seven more with Real Monarchs in the USL … With his first full professional season now behind him, he has already made seven starts for Real Salt Lake this season … After training alongside the likes of former MLS Best XI defenders Nat Borchers and Jamison Olave and getting coaching from MLS mainstays Craig Waibel and Tyrone Marshall, Glad has shown an ability to take in all the information around him to improve at a great rate …
POINTS FROM A LOSING POSITION: RSL’s early-season pair of comeback wins at home – on both March 12 and April 30, both recovering from an 0-1 deficit to capture the full three points against Seattle and Houston – replicates a feat that occurred just once in the club’s disappointing 2015 season … Last October 4, RSL ventured on the road in Colorado to rebound from an early deficit to win, 2-1, on a Luke Mulholland blast, in MLS game #30 a year ago …
