SANDY, Utah (Friday, July 8, 2016) – Real Salt Lake hosts Montreal Impact Saturday night with kickoff for the critical mid-Summer match at 8:00 p.m. MT. RSL looks to snap a three-game winless streak, following a pair of dominant home performances last week in league and Open Cup play that culminated in disappointing 1-1 results.
Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s team (8-5-4, 28 points, 3rd-best in MLS w/ a 1.65 points-per-game average) resumes action at its vaunted Rio Tinto Stadium home, where RSL is unbeaten in 10 games all competitions this season (5-0-5 in MLS, CCL and Open Cup), with Saturday the sixth out of eight home MLS games in 10 overall from mid-June to the end of July following the recent install of a new natural grass surface.
RSL has won both previous visits by Montreal to Utah, riding an early Paulo Junior penalty kick back in 2012 to a 1-0 win, and a pair of late Olmes Garcia goals following an Impact red card in a 3-1 victory in 2014. By contrast, RSL has lost both of its contests at Montreal, dropping a 2-3 decision back in 2013 as the teams traded late goals, with RSL losing 1-4 in the clubs’ last meeting in early 2015.
The Claret-and-Cobalt boast an all-time 14-2-3 mark against visiting Canadian clubs in league and CCL play, with RSL posting an 8-1-0 mark against Toronto FC at home and a 4-1-3 record against Vancouver in addition to the 2-0-0 ledger against Montreal. Overall, RSL has outscored TFC / VAN / MTL by a 37-15 margin on Utah soil. Between July 4, 2007 – a 1-2 loss to Toronto at Rice-Eccles Stadium – and April 18, 2015, when a pair of red cards doomed RSL against Vancouver – RSL went 16 consecutive games (13-0-3) without losing to one of Major League Soccer’s “Maple Leaf Triumvirate.” RSL defeated Vancouver, 1-0, back in April to capture the club’s 14th overall win against teams from the Great White North.
Since the beginning of 2008, RSL now boasts a 103-22-44 mark in its last 169 home games (all comps) in that span, during which it has outscored opponents by 173 goals (297-124), with an 82-17-38 reg. season mark (241/100), the 8-2-2 CCL record (22/8), 5-2-2 playoffs (11/4), as well as an 8-2-2 Open Cup mark (24/13).
With a victory Saturday, RSL GK Nick Rimando would move into a tie for the top spot all-time with Kevin Hartman at 180 career MLS regular-season wins. Rimando – already Major League Soccer’s all-time shutout king with 216 – needs just two wins, nine games played, four starts, 384 minutes and 61 saves to surpass Hartman in every single MLS goalkeeping category.
The match can be seen locally on KMYU (English, David James and Brian Kamler) and heard via RSL outlets ESPN700 AM (English, Bill Riley, Jay Nolly, Spencer Warne & Jon LaFollette) & 102.3 FM / 1600 AM (Spanish, Fernando Hortal & Nelson Moran). Pre-game coverage airs live locally on ESPN700 AM at 7:00 p.m. MT.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake v. Montreal Impact
- Coverage Begins: 8:00 p.m. MT
- Local TV: KMYU – David James & Brian Kamler
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (7:00 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 Saturday’s RSL v. Impact Matchup Available Online
The link to the Adobe PDF version of the Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Montreal Impact is available by clicking HERE.
