SANDY, Utah (Friday, October 3, 2019) – Real Salt Lake DF Justen Glad, DF Aaron Herrera, DF/FW Brooks Lennon, GKDavid Ochoa and FW Sebastian Saucedo were all called in to U.S. U-23 National Team camp by U.S. U-23 Head CoachJason Kreis for the Olympic team’s upcoming camp at Miami. The camp runs from October 6-15 and concludes with a friendly against the El Salvador U-23s on October 15 at Florida International University.
“We are thrilled for our young players to continue to get opportunities to represent their country at the U-23 level. They have all shown commitment to grow and develop since they came to our academy and have continued that hard work throughout their time at RSL and have caught Jason’s eye. It’s also a great opportunity for David to move up to the U-23s and get some time training with an older age group,” RSL Interim Head Coach Freddy Juarez said. “We wish them all success and I know they will each take advantage of the opportunities they’ve earned.”
All five players developed in the Real Salt Lake Academy and previously represented the U.S. at the FIFA U-20 World Cup - Ochoa in 2019 and Glad, Herrera, Lennon and Saucedo in 2017.
Glad, 22, is in his sixth season with Real Salt Lake and has started in 22 matches this season, with RSL going 13-6-3 with 10 shutouts and a 0.86 goals against average in those matches. He now has 106 starts in 108 appearances in his MLS career, including a stretch of 50 consecutive starts from 2017-2018. In addition to his time with the U-20 National Team, he also appeared for the U.S. Youth National Teams at the U-18 and U-17 levels.
Herrera, 22, is in his second season with Real Salt Lake after logging 16 appearances, 14 as a starter, in his rookie campaign in 2018. This season, he leads RSL in minutes played with 2,678, starting in 30 of his 31 appearances this season, logging four assists. He has 47 appearances and 44 starts in his two MLS seasons after a standout college career at the University of New Mexico. He made three appearances for the U.S. U-20 National Team in 2017 on its run through the CONCACAF U-20 Championships and the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Lennon, 22, is in his third season at Real Salt Lake. He earned RSL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2018 after converting to right back and logging 32 starts. With 16 starts in 27 appearances this season, he now has 63 starts out of his 85 career MLS appearances with three goals and 10 assists. After playing at the RSL Academy, Lennon signed with Liverpool in England before returning to Real Salt Lake in 2017. In 2015-2017, he scored six goals in 11 appearances for the U.S. U-20 National Team after previously playing at the U-17 and U-18 levels, where he totaled eight goals in 11 appearances.
Ochoa, 18, signed with RSL prior to the 2019 season. He made his professional debut in 2018 with the Real Monarchs as an Academy call-up on April 22, 2018 and has since made 15 starts in 2019 for the club in USL Championship. This season he has a 7-4-4 record with three shutouts and a 1.47 GAA. He helped the U.S. U-20s reach the quarterfinals of the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland and has been a regular call-up for the U.S. at the U-20 and U-18 levels since 2018.
Saucedo, 22, has two goals and four assists in 26 appearances this season, 13 of them in a starting role. Now in his fourth season at RSL and fifth as a professional after spending one season on loan at Veracruz in Mexico, he has five goals and 11 assists in 83 appearances, 29 as a starter. With the U.S. U-20s, he scored eight goals in 19 appearances from 2015-2017.
In addition to the five current players on Real Salt Lake’s roster, fellow RSL Academy products forward Sebastian Soto and midfielder Richie Ledezma were named to the roster.
Real Salt Lake is currently fifth in the Western Conference standings at 15-13-5 (50 points) and faces Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sunday at BC Place in the final regular season match of the 2019 season. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. MT with live coverage on KMYU, the KSL TV app and ESPN 700.
