SANDY, Utah (Friday, July 15, 2016) – Real Salt Lake returns to its Rio Tinto Stadium home this weekend, hosting the New England Revolution Saturday night with an 8:00 p.m. MT kickoff. RSL seeks to capitalize on its fortune on Utah soil, as the club looks to snap a five-game winless streak across all competitions, the club’s recent trio of disappointing 1-1 home results in league and Open Cup play sandwiched by 0-2 road losses at Vancouver Wednesday and at Dallas on June 25.
Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s team (8-6-5, 29 points, t-4th-best in MLS w/ a 1.53 points-per-game average) trails only West rivals Colorado (1.89 points per game / 9 wins), Dallas (1.76 points per game / 11 wins) and LA Galaxy (1.61 points per game / 7 wins) in the 2016 Supporters Shield race.
RSL – one of six MLS teams with eight wins on the year, and one of nine teams hovering between 26 and 30 points on the year – is unbeaten in 11 games all competitions this season (5-0-6 in MLS, CCL and Open Cup), with this weekend’s visit by New England the seventh out of nine home games in 11 overall from mid-June to the end of July following the recent install of a new natural grass surface.
Next Tuesday, RSL hosts Italian power FC Internazionale (colloquially known as “Inter”) with an 8:00 p.m. MT kickoff at Rio Tinto Stadium, while next Friday sees RSL celebrate Pioneer Day weekend with a July 22 fireworks match against the San Jose Earthquakes (kickoff at 9:00 p.m. in a nationally-televised “Viernes de Futbol” contest).
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, eight games played, three starts, 294 minutes and 58 saves to surpass Hartman in every single MLS goalkeeping category.
Since the beginning of 2008, RSL now boasts a 103-22-45 mark in its last 170 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).
The New England match can be seen locally on KMYU (English, David James and Brian Dunseth) and 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 7:00 p.m. MT.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake vs. New England Revolution
- Coverage Begins: 7:30 p.m. MT
- Local TV: KMYU – David James & Brian Dunseth
- 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 vs. Revolution 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 New England is available by clicking HERE.
