Notes & Quotes- RSL 1 : 0 CHI

REAL SALT LAKE’S 1-0 HOME WIN OVER CHICAGO FIRE SOUNDS LIKE A BROKEN RECORD
RSL Becomes First Team in MLS History to Record 23-Match Undefeated Streak at Home in Regular Season Play;

Utah Side Jumps Back Into Share of Top Spot on MLS’ Overall Table with Five Games Remaining
SANDY, Utah (Saturday, September 18, 2010) – Real Salt Lake (13-4-8, 47 pts.) continued its historic run of form this afternoon at Rio Tinto Stadium, as the Utah side used a penalty kick conversion from FW Álvaro Saborío just before the stroke of halftime and a fifth-straight shutout in League play to post a 1-0 victory over the visiting Chicago Fire (6-9-8, 26 pts.). 
The win in Sandy broke Real Salt Lake’s tie with the 2008-09 Columbus Crew for the longest home undefeated streak in League play, the Utahans becoming the first team in MLS history to go 23 straight home matches without suffering a defeat. The three points also, at least temporarily, pushed RSL back into a share of first place in the League’s  overall standings, the team’s 47 points pulling even with Western Conference cohort Los Angeles Galaxy, who welcomes D.C. United to The Home Depot Center later this evening.

Real Salt Lake Match Notes

·Real Salt Lake has started its 6-games-in-18-days stretch in perfect fashion with two wins this week, but the schedule only gets tougher for the Claret-and-Cobalt across the next seven days. RSL will first head south to Panama for its CONCACAF Champions League Matchweek 4 fixture on Wednesday, Sept. 22, against Arabe Unido at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City, with that contest kicking off at 6:00 p.m. MT(live on Fox Soccer Channel). The squad will then return to Utah for next Saturday’s Rocky Mountain Cup rivalry opener against the Colorado Rapids, with the 8:00 p.m. MT kickoff also set to be broadcast on FSC.
·Real Salt Lake now owns the two longest shutout streaks in MLS in 2010, its current 532-minute stretch, which began on August 11 at PHI, sitting only behind its 567-minute run earlier this summer (5/31 v. KC – 7/17 @ DAL).
·When combining MLS regular season, MLS Cup Playoff, and CONCACAF Champions League competition, RSL’s undefeated streak and Rio Tinto Stadium now sits at 26 games, a run that started back on June 6, 2009, with a 1-1 draw against Colorado. The undefeated streak includes 23 League contests (16-0-7), two CCL matches (2-0-0), and one playoff contest (1-0-0).
·GK Nick Rimando extended his league-lead in shutouts with his 12^th clean sheet of the season, now two better than both Will Hesmer (CLB) and Donovan Ricketts (LA). The shutout was the 72^nd of his MLS career, good for fourth place on the League’s all-time chart and just two behind third-place Joe Cannon (SJ). The shutout was the 13^th of the season for RSL when throwing in Kyle Reynish’s effort on Sept. 9 at Seattle.


·The penalty kick score for FW Álvaro Saborío was his team-high 9^th goal in MLS play (T-5^th in MLS) and his 14^th for RSL across all competitions this season (also has 5 in CCL play).


·Today marked the 100^th career start in an RSL uniform forMF Andy Williams.  The only remaining “RSL Original” ranks 2^nd in the category in team annals behind only Rimando (106). 


·After scoring in his RSL debut Wednesday night in CONCACAF play against Toronto FC, FW Paulo Jr. made his MLS debut this afternoon with an active 14-minute stint off the bench in place of FW Robbie Findley.


·Real Salt Lake is now just the 5th team in MLS history to lose just once in 20 League matches, the squad compiling a 12-1-7 mark since a 0-1 defeat at Columbus on April 24 that moved its record at that point to 1-3-1. Oddly enough, the only team to defeat RSL during the stretch, FC Dallas (0-2 L on July 17) also has one of the five such streaks in League annals. The two sides are set to meet in RSL's final regular season home contest of 2010 on October 16.

Real Salt Lake Partners Go "23 for 23" for RSL Season Ticket Holders

In honor of Real Salt Lake's record 23-game MLS home unbeaten streak, Utah's Major League Soccer club and its corporate partners thanked the League's best fans for their role in the record run by surprising 23 RSL Season Ticket Holders with gifts, many valued at $500 or more, during a post-game ceremony following the 1-0 win over Chicago on Sept. 18 at Rio Tinto Stadium. Real Salt Lake would like to thank America First Credit Union, AT&T, Budweiser, Burger King, Comcast, ESPN700, FIJI Water, JetBlue, KFC, Les Olson Company, Mountain America Credit Union, Oh My Crafts, Pepsi, Pixels Foto & Frame, Rio Tinto, RSL Express, Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, US Bank, Workers Compensation Fund and XanGo for their generosity to "RSL Nation" and their continued support during the team's historic 2010 campaign.

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2010
RIO TINTO STADIUM – SANDY, UT
REAL SALT LAKE  1  :  0  CHICAGO FIRE


REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
On RSL claiming the first 23-game home undefeated run in MLS history:
“It’s really cool. We’ve put a lot of emphasis on it, and we haven’t shied away from our feelings about how important it is to our club, our coaching staff, and our players.  We’ve taken a lot of pride in it and put a lot of weight in it.  So now we get to, at least for a few minutes, celebrate it.”
On the MLS debut of FW Paulo Jr.:
“I thought he came in and did pretty well this afternoon.  The first thing he does when he gets on the ball is take a shot, which hit the post.  That’s why we signed him, because we know he strikes a fantastic ball. He can do some dangerous things in and around the opponent’s goal.” 
On the potential of this RSL squad:
“[Last preseason] I really felt like this is the group I envisioned for a long time, playing the type of soccer they’re playing. This is the team I think we’ve been trying to build for a long time, and this is the team that should challenge for championships for quite a while.”
On outside influences:
“Expectations, pressure, and outside influences, I think that’s for outside people.  People in the locker room know what we’re capable of, people in the locker room know what’s expected and demanded of them.  When we do those things, we’ll win.” 
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER KYLE BECKERMAN
On what to take from today’s record-setting result:
“[The record’s] definitely a big deal, something that we’ll look back on and be proud of. We’ve just got to find that energy. We need to fix that before the next game.  We’re going to be really tough to beat in the playoffs.”


REAL SALT LAKE FORWARD ÁLVARO SABORÍO
On his penalty kick conversion just before halftime:
“I aimed for the right side of the ‘keeper and hoped that it would go through.  Here I’ve made four [penalties] already, so I’m very confident.  I feel good when I have to make the penalty.  I don’t remember [the last time I missed one].”
On Real’s record setting home victory:
“It’s great. I think it’s wonderful for the team and the club.  Now we have to look forward and keep it going.”


REAL SALT LAKE GOALKEEPER NICK RIMANDO
On the team’s defensive performance and shutout against Chicago:
“If they’re not going to score, they’re not going to win.  When the defense gets us shutouts and gets us opportunities on goal, that’s where our offense comes from.”
On RSL’s record-setting home undefeated streak:
“You don’t think about it until the 19^th or 20^th game comes around and you get closer to records. Obviously your focus is always on the game, but in the back of your brain you’re thinking about getting those records. We really wanted it.  Even though some of the games were ugly, as a team we grew up and found a way to win.  We want to continue to write history for Real Salt Lake.”
CHICAGO FIRE HEAD COACH CARLOS DE LOS COBOS
Overall thoughts on the match:
“The first half was very balanced, and we had two chances to score. But all season long we have been having big mistakes, and we are not learning from them. In the final minutes of the first half and the final minutes of the match we lost concentration and we were not focused. All the guys fought and tried to make good things happen in the second half. I think the guys gave 100% today.”
On the Fire’s playoff chances:
“It’s definitely difficult now, but we still have seven matches left to play and that’s 21 points available. We need to fight. We are losing points because we are not concentrating all the time. The other reason it is difficult is because the other teams in the [Eastern] Conference are adding points. We have really good moments in all of our matches, but we are not taking advantage of this.”
On the difficulty of playing a man down:
“It’s very difficult to play the second half missing a player, even if you have a very good team overall. But we are a team that always wants to try to attack. We tried to control the ball, but it is just more difficult [with ten men].”
CHICAGO FIRE DEFENDER C.J. BROWN
On the Fire’s performance on the day:
“It was not good. We are having a mental struggle and it’s about getting guys working. We have very good individual soccer players, but we need to form that team and getting guys to work [as a team]. When the game is going rough we need guys to step up and work hard rather than trying to play possession, and we just need to get after it. And we are not doing that right now.”
On the physical nature of the match:
“As far as the physical play goes, that’s just the game. I don’t think it was any worse than any other game that I have been in. There some plays here and there that some players got in on, but that’s mild compared to when it starts in the playoffs. It’s part of the game.”
On having to play with 10 men for the second 45 minutes:
“It was good in a sense for us because [Real Salt Lake] stopped attacking and they were playing possession, which gave us a few opportunities to go in on goal.”
On what to expect for the remainder of the season:
“We just need to focus on MLS. All it takes is for one team above us to screw up and for us to start winning some games. All we have to do is squeak into the playoffs. For me, and a lot of the guys, we are still going to battle. Every game for us has a playoff mentality.”


CHICAGO FIRE MIDFIELDER MARCO PAPPA
On his return to the pitch:
“It was great to get back on the field. It had been a while since I’ve played with the team, and it was nice to get in the game and fight for a result.”
On whether the Fire can still make the playoffs:
“We have to work hard. We made it to the [Conference Finals] last year. We are going to do everything we can and work really hard until the end of the season."