5:30p MT Kickoff Saturday for First of Three Consecutive Road Matches;
Claret-and-Cobalt Seeking Yet Another Bounceback Result Following Controversial Toronto Loss;
Playmaker Diego Luna Reinstated for Weekend After Red Card Rescinded;
RSL Boss Pablo Mastroeni Seeking 100th Overall Coaching Victory;
Tickets Available for May 14 Home Return via *www.RSL.com/tickets*
HERRIMAN, Utah (Friday, April 25, 2025) – Real Salt Lake (3-6-0, 9 points, 11th West / 22nd Shield) kicks off a three-game road run at 5:30p MT against expansion side San Diego FC (4-3-2, 14 points, 6th West / 11th Shield) at Snapdragon Stadium. Saturday’s match will be available via Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, with Mark Rogondino & Heath Pearce (ENG) on the call, as are Jorge Perez-Navarro & Marcelo Balboa (SPN).
Earlier this week, an independent panel unanimously decided to rescind the one-game suspension and accompanying fine for the red card issued to Diego Luna in the 61st minute of last week's match against Toronto FC. The Independent Review Panel – consisting of one representative from the U.S. Soccer Federation, one representative from the Canadian Soccer Association and one independent representative nominated by the Professional Referee Organization, determined that Luna is now eligible to play at San Diego.
Saturday could mark the Claret-and-Cobalt debut for 25-year-old FW William Agada, acquired Wednesday from Sporting Kansas City. The Nigerian – who will wear the No. 9 shirt for RSL – is now in his eighth season as a professional, having scored 65 goals in 212 career games, including 24 goals in 77 games across all competitions with Sporting KC since his U.S. arrival. Nearly three summers ago, Agada joined Sporting KC in a transfer from Israeli side Hapoel Jerusalem (June 2022).
RSL boss Pablo Mastroeni arrives in San Diego Saturday seeking his 100th career coaching win, including the 2014-17 years with Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado Rapids. The former U.S. World Cup stalwart has now amassed 99 wins, 110 losses and 74 draws across all competitions for the Utah/Denver-based sides. Last June in Kansas City, Mastroeni earned his 50th win across all competitions with RSL in a wild 4-3 road decision, with the 2-0 reg. season win over LA Galaxy on April 5 marking his 50th MLS victory with RSL. Since August, 2021, in Utah, Mastroeni’s all-time coaching record is 60-52-37.
In its last road trip two weeks ago at Nashville, RSL scored first in the early going when Polish international winger Dominik Marczuk slotted home the rebound of Diogo Gonçalves shot from distance, taking the 1-0 lead. Minutes later, Nashville equalized en route to a stoppage-time, penalty-kick game winner to win 2-1, dropping RSL to 37W-7L-12T when scoring first during the Mastroeni era – marking the third match lost this season across all competitions when scoring first (both at home against Herediano, San Diego).
Now, for the fifth time in seven opportunities across the first 11 games across all competitions in 2025, RSL has yet another chance to embody one of the hallmarks of the Mastroeni era, displaying its ability to rebound from a loss, RSL dropping just 13 back-to-back scenarios across all competitions in Pablo’s 150 overall games managed since August, 2021.
Newcomer GK Rafael Cabral and Homegrown DF Justen Glad remain the lone two RSL players to have appeared in every minute of the Club’s nine 2025 MLS contests, totaling 810 minutes, while Cabral has also played all 180 minutes of RSL’s Concacaf Champions Cup action to kick off the season.
Game Notes for Saturday’s RSL @ San Diego FC Match Available Online
The Adobe PDF version of the 2025 RSL Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC can be found HERE. Media members looking to receive the document as an attachment or have further questions are asked to please contact RSL Communications via email at *RSLcommunications@RSL.com*.
RSL’s trip to Nashville on April 12 kicked off a run that sees four out of five contests played away, and seven of 10 overall to be played on the road through the end of May. Following this weekend at San Diego, RSL will also travel to face Vancouver, Dallas, Colorado, Austin and LA Galaxy on the road, all prior to May 31.
So far this season, RSL owns just an 1-3-1 / 4 point road record this season under the guidance of fifth-year Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni, despite each of the last two seasons marking the Claret-and-Cobalt’s best road campaigns in team history. The 2023 side posted an 11W-8L-5T away mark across all competitions, a record which includes both that year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal loss to Houston, and its road loss and elimination draw in the first and third games of the teams’ 2023 Audi MLS Cup Playoff series on the Shell Energy Stadium turf.
A year ago, Mastroeni’s men registered the second-most road points in RSL history, with a 5W-4L-8T MLS reg. season mark, one which does NOT includes its heartbreaking, multi-goal Leagues Cup elimination loss to the Dynamo following a home win over Atlas FC.
During each of Pablo’s previous three full seasons at the RSL helm, the Club has increased its annual point total (47 in 2022, 50 in 2023 and 59 last year), while increasing its Western Conference table position as well (7th in 2022, 5th in 2023 and 3rd last year). The 2025 campaign features RSL’s pursuit of a Conference-best fifth consecutive postseason berth, a seventh in the last eight seasons and its 15th in the last 18 years.
This season, Real Salt Lake returns nearly 21,000 collective minutes played from last year’s roster, as the Club looks to build upon a record-setting 2024 campaign, as last year saw RSL advance to the MLS Cup Playoffs for a fourth consecutive occasion, the sixth time in seven seasons (2020 the lone exception), and for the 14th time in the last 17 seasons since first qualifying in 2008 (2015, 2017 the other outliers). The 2024 MLS regular season reached an all-time high of 59 points for RSL, which finished third in the Western Conference and sixth overall in the 29-team MLS shield race, while also establishing a new all-time scoring high of 65 goals.
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