SANDY, Utah (Friday, May 20, 2016) – Real Salt Lake hits the road again Saturday at Kansas City against Sporting at 6:30 p.m. MT in the third of five consecutive road matches while Rio Tinto Stadium undergoes installation of a new surface. Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s team (5-3-2, 17 points, 4th in MLS w/ 1.70 points-per-game) has suffered back-to-back 0-1 road losses in the last two weeks at Colorado and Houston, teams it had previously beaten earlier in 2016 at home.
Back on April 2, RSL captured its lone road win this season, emerging from Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, with a 2-1 victory, despite missing several key players due to injury or suspension. That day, without Captain Kyle Beckerman, GK Nick Rimando, MF Juan Manuel Martinez, MF Javier Morales and DF Jamison Olave, RSL’s depth was on display, as goals from DF Justen Glad – his first as a professional – and MF Luke Mulholland sparked RSL to a 2-0 lead in front of GK Jeff Attinella, with only a stoppage-time penalty kick denying RSL a clean sheet.
Last week’s 0-1 loss at Houston snapped RSL’s run of five consecutive wins against the Dynamo, including two straight at BBVA Compass Stadium, and brought to nearly 200 minutes RSL’s active scoreless streak on the road dating back to April 23 at LA, on the heels of RSL’s league-best run of scoring multiple goals in four consecutive road contests.
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 5:30 p.m. MT, while KMYU’s three-hour window kicks off at 6:00 p.m. MT live from Kansas City.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake at Sporting KC
- Coverage Begins: 6:00 p.m. MT
- TV: KMYU (2.2 air / 12 satellite / 643 Comcast HD) – David James & Brian Dunseth
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (5:30 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 Kansas City 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 Kansas City is available by clicking HERE.
2016 REAL SALT LAKE NOTES –
RSL @ SPORTING KC – Sat., May 21, 2016 – 6:30 p.m. MT
BACK TO THE SCENE: This weekend, RSL returns to Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, the site of the club’s lone 2016 road win, a 2-1 decision back on April 2 … In that match, RSL – missing five starters due to suspension (Beckerman, Martinez, Olave) or injury (Rimando, Morales) – 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-TIME RSL HISTORY AGAINST KANSAS CITY: The early-April RSL win evened the Claret-and-Cobalt’s all-time regular season series with Kansas City to an all-time 8-8-5 mark, one which includes KC’s dominant 5-2-4 mark at home … The 2-1 RSL win on April 2 snapped a winless streak of 7 games (all comps) at Kansas City, not winning since 2009 …
Overall, RSL is now 2-6-5 in KC, with DF Justen Glad’s 29th-minute header – his first professional goal – snapping a streak of 446 minutes (MLS play) without scoring in KC dating back to 2010 … The win was RSL’s first at what is now Children’s Mercy Park, where RSL has posted a 1-2-2 reg. season mark …
The road team in this fixture has just two wins in the last 13 meetings across all competitions, the one prior to April 2 coming back in July 2013, when Ike Opara headed home a much-disputed 97th-minute winner at Rio Tinto Stadium … RSL held the upper hand during the 2015 regular season, winning twice at home and securing a 0-0 draw in Kansas City … Sporting KC, however, won a dramatic U.S. Open Cup semifinal at Children's Mercy Park on Aug. 12, erasing an early deficit to win 3-1 … Sporting KC and RSL combined for 20 yellow cards and one red card in four meetings last season, including the Open Cup semifinal …
RIOT RE-OPENS TUE., JUNE 14 FOR OPEN CUP ACTION: U.S. Soccer announced 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 …
EARLY PACING STILL BODES WELL FOR RSL: While last week’s 0-1 loss at Colorado dropped RSL to 5-3-2 and 17 points from 10 games, removing the Claret-and-Cobalt from the top spot in the MLS points-per-game average race (now 1.70, trailing both Colorado – 2.09 – and Los Angeles – 1.90, the two teams that have defeated RSL away, and Dallas at 1.77, which has played 3 additional games), RSL remains on a record pace for 58 points in 2016, a pacing which will surely be tested on the current 5-game road trip, the longest stretch away from Utah in RSL history …
FLOODING-RELATED POSTPONEMENTS TWICE IN 364 GAMES: Last Saturday in Houston, RSL saw its game postponed 15 hours due to extreme weather and flooding in South Texas, the second time in the club’s 364-game history across all competitions that a game had been unable to kick off as scheduled on same day … The previous instance came in July, 2011, when Vancouver’s initial stadium, Empire Field, saw its newly-installed temporary grass surface flooded by downpours just two days prior to a friendly against Manchester City … In both delays, RSL suffered shutouts – 0-1 last week in Houston after a 15-hour delay, 0-3 at Vancouver after a 60-day one …
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 …
RIO TINTO STADIUM FIELD RENOVATION IN MAY: The main impetus on RSL’s early-season / road-heavy slate is due to a May 1 – June 14 field replacement at the world-class Sandy venue … An exact replication of the base and field surface is planned, as RSL has played 161 games at home since the Oct. 9, 2008 opener …
RIOT AT THE RIOT IN BACK HALF OF SEASON: However, 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 …
