SANDY, Utah (Friday, June 17, 2016) – Real Salt Lake welcomes the Portland Timbers Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium at 8:00 p.m. MT as the club continues its extended homestand. Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s team (7-4-2, 23 points, 2nd-best in MLS w/ a 1.77 points-per-game average) resumes MLS action before a standing-room only crowd at home, where RSL will play nine of its 11 games from mid-June to the end of July following a six-week install of a new natural grass surface.
Saturday’s match mark RSL’s second game against rival Portland this season, the clubs’ drawing, 2-2, back on March 19 at Providence Park in Oregon. In that match, RSL raced to a 2-0 lead via goals from FW Joao Plata and FW Yura Movsisyan – each sandwiched around a 31st-minute red card to RSL Captain Kyle Beckerman – while GK Nick Rimando ran his shutout streak in Portland against the Timbers to 466 minutes. However, a pair of goals from Portland striker Fanendo Adi – the second on a penalty kick that resulted in another red card to RSL DF Jamison Olave, dropping RSL to nine men for only the fifth occasion in 367 all-time contests – allowed the home side to split the points.
RSL boasts a 7-3-1 all-time home mark against the Timbers, which have won in each of their last three visits to Utah, including a pair of 1-0 wins here in 2015, as well as a 3-1 victory in June of 2014 when RSL was missing several key players for that Summer’s FIFA World Cup. No other visiting team in the history of RSL’s 12 seasons has won three consecutive matches in Utah, although RSL did drop back-to-back home games on three occasions in the Rice-Eccles days (Columbus 05/06, Colorado 06/07 and Chivas twice in 2008). The 2012/13 LA Galaxy join Portland as the lone side to steal back-to-back matches at Rio Tinto Stadium.
This week’s match will be televised in Utah via KMYU (English, David James & Brian Kamler) 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 7:00 p.m. MT, while KMYU’s three-hour window kicks off at 7:30 p.m. MT live from Sandy.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake v. Portland Timbers
- Coverage Begins: 7:00 p.m. MT
- TV: KMYU (2.2 air / 12 satellite / 643 Comcast HD) – David James & Brian Kamler
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (4:00 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. Portland 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 Portland is available by clicking HERE.
2016 REAL SALT LAKE NOTES –
RSL v. PORTLAND TIMBERS – Sat., June 18, 2016 – 8:00 p.m. MT
RSL SPARKPLUG JOAO PLATA ON FIRE: With a goal and an assist in Tuesday’s Open Cup comeback, RSL FW Joao Plata became the only RSL man to have found the back of the net in each of the club’s three competitions this season (CCL, MLS, USOC) … The 24-year old Ecuadoran now has 7 goals and 7 assists in 14 games played all competitions this year, good for creating 54% of the club’s 26 goals in 2016 (1 CCL, 23 MLS, 2 USOC) …
SUMMER GETAWAY AT THE RIOT IN SANDY: Following the field renovation and the league-wide Copa America break in early June, RSL will play six of seven and eight of its 10 matches at home, leading into the annual MLS All-Star Break in late July … Rio Tinto Stadium also will host a Liga MX friendly on Friday, June 24 between Mexican powers Xolos de Tijuana and Santos Laguna, while RSL faces its first-ever European club at the RioT on either Tues/Wed, July 19/20, as legendary side Inter Milan arrives in Utah (confirmed date dependent on RSL’s Open Cup fate on June 28) … Included in those 10 home games in the next five weeks are a pair of 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup contests, as RSL advanced from Tuesday’s contest against Wilmington via PK shootout, the club now hosting Seattle Sounders FC in a #USOC2016 match on Tuesday, June 28 …
RSL will also enjoy another late-season stretch at home, playing six out of eight at Rio Tinto Stadium from late August to late October, prior to the season finale at Seattle on Oct. 23 …
RSL SEEKS TO RESTORE ROAR AT RIOT FORTRESS: While RSL is a perfect 4-0-0 in MLS play (and 0-0-2 in CCL/Open Cup) so far this season, the club ended its disappointing 2015 campaign with a 12-4-6 record at home across all competitions (just a 7-4-6 RioT mark in MLS play), with the pair of late-season 0-1 losses to Portland & Dallas just the club’s 4th & 5th home shutouts suffered in its last 47 home games overall, dating back to the 2013 Open Cup Final ... The six draws at home last year equaled the club’s all-time season high, set in 2006 and 2008 ...
Last year’s ignominy snapped a 7-year run that had seen RSL average 2.00 points per game or more at home each MLS season from 2008-14, as well as a 5-year streak of 10 or more home wins in league play … With recent 1-goal home wins over Seattle, Vancouver, Colorado and Houston, RSL is a perfect 4-0-0 (3.00 points-per-game) this season …
Since the beginning of 2008, RSL now boasts a 102-22-41 mark in its last 165 home games (all comps) in that span, during which it has outscored opponents by 172 goals (291-119), with an 81-17-36 reg. season mark (236/96), the 8-1-2 CCL record (21/7), 5-2-2 playoffs (11/4), as well as an 8-2-1 Open Cup mark (23/12) ...
EARLY PACING STILL BODES WELL FOR RSL: Last time out, RSL’s come-from-behind 3-2 win at Yankee Stadium against NYCFC improved RSL to 7-4-2 and 23 points from 13 games, the Claret-and-Cobalt one of Major League Soccer’s top two teams with a 1.77 points-per-game average (RSL trails only Colorado at 2.00 ppg) … RSL remains on a club-record pace for 60 points in 2016, pacing which could (should?) improve once the club returns to Rio Tinto Stadium, where six of RSL’s eight MLS games between mid-June and late July will occur …
ORIGINAL RIOT PITCH REPLACEMENT: Random facts and figures for the original Rio Tinto Stadium pitch, from Oct. 9, 2008 through April 30, 2016:
YEAR RECORD OVERALL
2008: 2-1-1
2009: 10-1-5 (12- 2- 6)
2010: 14-0-5 (26- 2-11)
2011: 14-4-4 (40- 6-15)
2012: 12-6-3 (52-12-18)
2013: 16-4-4 (68-16-22)
2014: 11-1-6 (79-17-28)
2015: 12-4-6 (91-21-34)
2016: 4-0-2 (95-21-36)
MLS Regular Season: 74-16-31 (2.09 PPG)
CONCACAF Champions League: 8-1-2 (2.36 PPG)
MLS Cup Playoffs: 5-2-2 (1.89 PPG)
U.S. Open Cup: 8-2-1 (2.27 PPG)
Largest Crowd: 21,004 – 9/19/15 (3-0 W over LA Galaxy)
Smallest Crowd: 7,620 – 6/28/11 [2-0 W over Wilmington (USOC)]
First Win: Oct. 18, 2008; 3-1 v FC Dallas
First Goal: Jamison Olave, 42’ equalizer, 10/9/08 v NYRB
First Shutout: Nick Rimando, 11/1/08 v Chivas USA
First Playoff Win/Shutout: Nov. 1, 2008; 1-0 v Chivas USA
First Playoff Goal: Yura Movsisyan, game-winner, 11/1/08 v Chivas
First CCL Win: Aug. 18, 2010; 2-1 v Arabe Unido (PAN)
First CCL Goal: Alvaro Saborio, 8/18/10 v Arabe Unido (PAN)
First CCL Shutout: Nick Rimando, 3/15/11 v Saprissa (CRC)
151st Game: April 30, 2016; 2-1 W v Houston Dynamo (95-21-35 overall mark)
Last Goal: Yura Movsisyan, 70’ game-winner, 4/30/16 v Houston
Last Shutout: Nick Rimando, 4/16/16 v Vancouver
