REAL SALT LAKE MATCH PREVIEW & NOTES:
RSL @ COLOMBUS CREW – SATURDAY, JUNE 30
CW30 Broadcast of RSL-CLB Clash Kicks Off at 6:00 p.m. MT
SANDY, Utah (Friday, June 29, 2012) – After two disappointing and historic home losses, Real Salt Lake (10-5-2, 32 pts.; West #2) hits the road this weekend against recent MLS Cup Playoff and CONCACAF Champions League rival Columbus Crew (5-5-4, 19 pts.; East #6) on Saturday, June 30. Live television coverage of the 6:00 p.m. MT kickoff at Crew Stadium will air on CW30 with hosts Bill Riley and Brian Dunseth, and conclude with the 8:00 p.m. MT showing of the 30-minute RAM TRUCKS post-game show. Fans can also catch the action via the team’s official radio partners: ESPN 700 / ESPN700Sports.com and La Gran D 102.3 FM, and by live Twitter updates via Twitter.com/RealSaltLake.
Despite Real Salt Lake’s back-to-back home losses in MLS play to Los Angeles and San Jose last week – the first consecutive setbacks on Utah soil since October 2007 – the Claret-and-Cobalt’s 32-point haul through 17 games marks a franchise-best point accumulation at this juncture. RSL travels to Ohio with an active four-game unbeaten streak on the road and a current 315-minute shutout run – both dating back to April 25 – and an overall 4-2-2 road mark in MLS play this season, just five points shy of the club-record 19 road points accumulated in both the 2010 and 2011 seasons. A win or draw Saturday in Columbus would extend the second-longest RSL road unbeaten run in franchise history, trailing only the nine-game streak of road results from Aug. 7, 2010 – April 9, 2011. The club-record road shutout streak was set back in the fall of 2010, when the RSL rearguard did not allow a goal for 344 minutes over four games.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake @ Columbus Crew
- Kickoff: 6:00 p.m. MT at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, OH
- TV: CW30 with Bill Riley & Brian Dunseth (RAM TRUCKS post-game coverage at 8:00 p.m. MT)
- English Radio: ESPN700 / ESPN700Sports.com (pre-game coverage begins at 5:00 p.m. MT)
- Spanish Radio: La Gran D 102.3 FM & Juan 1600 AM with Nelson Moran & Fernando Hortal
- Online: Live updates via the @RealSaltLake Twitter Feed and MLSsoccer.com MatchCenter
RSL will play without its Captain, as MF Kyle Beckerman will serve a one-game suspension due to yellow card accumulation. Saturday’s Crew match is the lone road contest in a run that sees 4 of RSL’s 5 matches on Utah soil and one of 2 away games in a homestand of 6 out of 8 leading up to and including July 27. A gauntlet of West teams proceed through Rio Tinto Stadium, as LA (2-3 L), SJ (1-2 L), SEA, POR, COL and VAN visit the Wasatch Front.
MLS Game Guide for Saturday’s RSL-CLB Showdown Now Available Online
Following is the link to the Adobe PDF version of the Major League Soccer Game Guide (media notes) in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Columbus Crew. If you have any problems obtaining the document, would prefer to receive it as an attachment, or are seeking more information on the match, please contact Trey Fitz-Gerald in the RSL Communications Department via email at tfitz@realsaltlake.com.
Click here to download the PDF version of the MLS Game Guide
RSL History v. Columbus Crew
Both teams enter Saturday’s match eager for a win, as last week’s losses to LA and SJ broke RSL’s seven-game unbeaten streak, and Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Chicago Fire ended the Columbus Crew’s six-game unbeaten run. RSL faces a difficult challenge in Central Ohio, as it hasn’t won a regular-season MLS game at Crew Stadium since August, 2006, with Columbus having won each of the last five meetings at Crew Stadium.
However, RSL has managed success during the most meaningful of its Ohio games, scoring three unanswered goals in November, 2009 to overcome an 0-2 deficit in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and utilize a 4-2 aggregate win to dethrone the defending MLS Cup Champion Crew, which had also captured the 2009 MLS Supporters Shield. In February of 2011, RSL emerged with a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the teams’ 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal tilt – despite playing with nine men the final 20 minutes of the brutally frigid match – returning to win 4-1 at home in the second leg.
All-time, RSL is 7-10-2 in all competitions against the Crew, with a 2-6-1 mark at Crew Stadium. RSL’s 3-0-1 mark against Columbus in postseason and CCL play sets the bar high in contrast to the Claret-and-Cobalt’s 0-1-0 mark in U.S. Open Cup play and 4-9-1 record during the MLS regular season against the Crew. In MLS regular-season appearances in Columbus, RSL is 1-5-0, with the lone win back in 2006 coming in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion, Carey Talley scoring late on a Chris Klein assist to give RSL its first-ever road comeback.
www.RealSaltLake.com / www.RioTintoStadium.com / www.ESPN700Sports.com
