SANDY, Utah (Thursday, July 21, 2016) – Real Salt Lake returns to its Rio Tinto Stadium home Friday night, hosting the San Jose Earthquakes Friday night with a 9:00 p.m. MT kickoff. RSL seeks to capitalize on its fortune on Utah soil, as the club looks to snap a six-game winless streak across all competitions, with RSL’s recent quartet of disappointing home draws results in league and Open Cup play also including 0-2 road losses at Vancouver last Wednesday and at Dallas on June 25.
Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s team (8-6-6, 30 points, t-5th-best in MLS w/ a 1.50 points-per-game average) is one of four MLS teams with eight wins on the year, and one of eight teams hovering between 26 and 32 points on the year. RSL is unbeaten in 12 games all competitions this season at home (5-0-7 in MLS, CCL and Open Cup), with this weekend’s visit by San Jose the eighth of 10 MLS home games in 11 overall from mid-June to the end of July following the recent install of a new natural grass surface.
With a victory Friday, 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, seven games played, two starts, 204 minutes and 55 saves to surpass Hartman in every single MLS goalkeeping category.
In the club’s annual Pioneer Day celebrations, RSL is 5-1-1 at Rio Tinto Stadium, dropping a 1-2 decision in 2013 to Kansas City, a game which ultimately meant that RSL would have to travel to the midwest for MLS Cup against Sporting. The Rice-Eccles era saw the Claret-and-Cobalt host both Everton (ENG) and Boca Juniors (ARG) back in 2007, with Costa Rican power Saprissa visiting in 2008 for Pioneer Day spectaculars.
RSL’s first-ever Pioneer Day match at Rio Tinto Stadium saw the club reverse an 0-2 halftime deficit against Dallas for a 4-2 come-from-behind win, sparked by FW Yura Movsisyan. San Jose visited on Pioneer Day back in 2011, RSL winning 4-0 as an Alvaro Saborio brace was bolstered by goals from Kyle Beckerman and Jamison Olave.
Since the beginning of 2008, RSL now boasts a 103-22-46 mark in its last 171 home games (all comps) in that span, during which it has outscored opponents by 173 goals (297-124), with an 82-17-39 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).
Friday’s San Jose 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. San Jose Earthquakes
- Coverage Begins: 8:30 p.m. MT
- Local TV: KMYU – David James & Brian Dunseth
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (8:00 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 Friday’s RSL vs. Earthquakes Matchup Available Online
The link to the Adobe PDF version of the Game Guide in advance of Friday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and San Jose is available by clicking HERE.
