SANDY, Utah (Saturday, August 13, 2016) – Real Salt Lake resumes Major League Soccer action this weekend as Sunday’s visit to the Pacific Northwest is showcased nationally on Fox Sports 1 with a 5:00 p.m. MT kickoff, facing West rival Seattle Sounders FC, with John Strong, Brad Friedel and Julie Stewart-Binks on the call. The game 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 airs live locally on ESPN700 AM at 4:00 p.m. MT.
Sunday’s match against Seattle is the second of three meetings between the clubs this season, RSL winning 2-1 over the Sounders back on March 12 in the Utah side’s home opener, as DF Jamison Olave provided the game-winning header in the 86th minute, after MF Sunday Stephen’s late first-half equalizer – his first / only career MLS goal – cancelled out Ozzie Alonso’s early goal for Seattle. RSL FW Joao Plata assisted on both goals in one of several performances that led to the diminutive Ecuadoran being named the Etihad March MLS Player of the Month.
RSL earned six points in three games last week at Philadelphia/Toronto and at home against Chicago to improve to 10-7-7 on the year, with 37 points, moving into a tie for 3rd place in the West and in the overall MLS Supporters Shield race. Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s team – now 5th-best in points-per-game in MLS w/ a 1.54 average – can pull within one point of the club’s entire 2015 total (41 points) with a win Sunday, in nine fewer games.
Last Saturday against Chicago, RSL GK and MLS icon Nick Rimando – known affectionately as “The Wall of the Wasatch” – set a new all-time MLS record with his 181st career win, 115 of which have come in his 10 seasons with the Claret-and-Cobalt. Rimando’s next three games played and 46 saves will move him past Kevin Hartman for the all-time MLS lead in every key goalkeeping category. Rimando captured the MLS shutout crown last season – he now has 126 in his illustrious career with Miami, D.C. United and RSL – while surpassing Hartman’s 411 career starts earlier this month (now 414) and becoming Major League Soccer’s all-time minutes played leader with 37,413.
Following Sunday’s match at Seattle in a series that has seen the home team dominate recently (RSL has won five straight at home against Sounders FC while losing four consecutive games at Century Link), RSL will play six of its next eight MLS contests at Rio Tinto Stadium. Between August 20 and October 16, prior to returning to Seattle on October 23 in the 2016 #DecisionDay finale, the Claret-and-Cobalt are well-positioned to take advantage of its dominant home-field history during the Western Conference stretch run.
RSL hosts the teams with which it is battling for the top seeds in the West, including front-runner Dallas twice, perennial rival LA Galaxy, Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado, Houston Dynamo and finally Sporting Kansas City on Sunday, October 16 in the home regular-season finale. During that span, RSL travels just twice, heading to Portland on September 10 and to San Jose on October 1.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake @ Seattle Sounders FC
- Coverage Begins: 5:00 p.m. MT
- National TV: Fox Sports 1 – John Strong, Brad Friedel and Julie Stewart-Binks
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (4:00 p.m. MT) – Bill Riley, Jay Nolly, Spencer Warne & Trey Fitz-Gerald
- 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 Sounders is available by clicking HERE.
