SANDY, Utah (Friday, October 21, 2016) – Real Salt Lake kicks off the final week of its 12th Major League Soccer season in control of its postseason destiny, as a Sunday afternoonkickoff against the rival Sounders is slated for 2:00 p.m. MT at Century Link Field in Seattle. The game will be televised nationally via ESPN with Adrian Healy, Taylor Twellman and Katie Witham on the call, and can also 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 on ESPN700 airs live locally at 1:00 p.m. MT.
RSL (12-11-10, 46 points, West #4) enters the match sitting one point ahead of Seattle (13-14-6, 45 points, West #5) as Sporting Kansas City and Portland Timbers reside at 44 points, the quartet of Western powers battling for the final three spots in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs and home-field advantage in the Knockout Round, to be held Wed./Thu., Oct. 26/27.
Should RSL win on Sunday, it would clinch the #4 seed in the West and a midweek return to Rio Tinto Stadium for one of two Western Conference knockout games. A draw at Seattle would allow RSL to secure a postseason berth for the eighth time in nine seasons, with seeding pending the results of Kansas City's home match against San Jose and Portland's trip to Vancouver, all kicking off concurrently on "MLS Decision Day" on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. MT.
In 26 of the 27 possible permutations of the results between RSL/SEA, Kansas City and Portland, RSL advances to the postseason; only the combination of an RSL loss with wins by both KC and Portland can drop the Claret-and-Cobalt to seventh in the West, eliminating Jeff Cassar's club from the playoffs completely.
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RSL and Seattle have split two previous meetings this season, each winning by 2-1 scorelines on home turf (RSL won its 2016 home opener over the Sounders as goals bySunday "Sunny" Stephen and Jamison Olave cancelled out an early Ozzie Alonso goal, while Seattle rode Nico Lodeiro heroics back on August 14 to prevent a Joao Plata goal from making the difference for RSL). All-time, RSL is 2-8-3 in Seattle (2-6-2 in MLS reg. season action, 0-2-1 in playoffs and Open Cup), last winning at Century Link in 2012 (a winless span of seven games, including an active run of five straight losses).
However, RSL's greatest glory has come on the pitch now known as Century Link, as RSL hoisted MLS Cup 2009 after defeating LA in a shootout, where GK Nick Rimando was named the game's Most Valuable Player and FW Yura Movsisyan assisted on Robbie Findley's equalizer. RSL stalwarts Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert and Tony Beltran were also on the field that fateful day for RSL.
RSL's last win on artificial surface came in the 2013 Western Conference Final at Portland, 15 games ago. All-time, RSL is 8-26-18 across all competitions on fake grass, being outscored 43-90. This season, RSL drew in its first two turf trips, conceding 2-0 leads at Orlando and at Portland prior to a July loss in Vancouver, the August loss in Seattle and a September loss in Portland for an 0-3-2 mark in 2016, after posting identical 0-4-1 marks in 2014 and 2015 on the fake stuff.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake at Seattle Sounders
- Coverage Begins:2:00 p.m. MT on SUNDAY
- Local / National TV: ESPN – Adrian Healey, Taylor Twellman and Katie Witham
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (1:00 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 Sunday's RSL @ Seattle Matchup Available Online
The link to the Adobe PDF version of the Game Guide in advance of Sunday's contest between Real Salt Lake and Seattle is available HERE.
