RSL Match Preview & Notes vs. FC Dallas - Saturday, July 9

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RSL Media Relations

REAL SALT LAKE MATCH PREVIEW: RSL v. FC DALLAS – SATURDAY, JULY 9
TV/Radio/Online Information for How to Follow Saturday’s Western Conference Showdown;
MLS Game Guide for RSL v. FC Dallas Now Available Online

SANDY, Utah (Friday, July 8, 2011) – Western Conference contenders and Supporters Shield hopefuls Real Salt Lake (7-3-6, 27 pts.) and FC Dallas (10-4-4, 34 pts.) will renew acquaintances twice over a four-day span, beginning with Saturday’s regular season affair at Rio Tinto Stadium. Kickoff for tomorrow’s contest in Sandy, presented by Rio Tinto, is set for 7:00 p.m. MT, with the festivities at Rio Tinto Stadium beginning with the Carnival Real pre-game festival on the stadium’s East Lawn at 5:00 p.m.


How to Follow Real Salt Lake v. FC Dallas


MLS Game Guide for RSL v. FC Dallas Now Available Online

Following are links to the MLS Game Guide (Game Notes) in advance of Saturday’s Western Conference clash between Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. If you have any problems downloading the document as an attachment or are seeking more information on the match, please contact John Koluder in the RSL Communications Department via email at jkoluder@RealSaltLake.com.


Issuu Document Reader: MLS Game Guide – Real Salt Lake v. New England
Online PDF: MLS Game Guide – Real Salt Lake v. FC Dallas
Real Salt Lake Looking for Revenge against In-form FC Dallas Side

While Real Salt Lake continues to gain more rivals as the seven-year club continues to mature, one team in particular – FC Dallas – has risen through the ranks to serve as perhaps the Utah side’s biggest nemesis in recent seasons. Their 2010 regular season home-and-home included two marquee contests that ended impressive runs, RSL’s 0-2 defeat at Pizza Hut Park in July snapping its then franchise-best 10-game undefeated streak, while the Utah side’s 2-0 win at Rio Tinto Stadium in mid-October halted FC Dallas’ MLS-record-tying 19-match unbeaten run.  The two red-hot sides would meet up just weeks later in the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs, the high-profile showdown in the Western Conference Semifinal Series beginning with a 2-1 Dallas win in Frisco before a 1-1 draw a week later in Sandy sealed the slight upset for the Hoops – and an unexpected early postseason exit for the Utah side.


Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas will play a pivotal “home-and-home” series during the next week across a pair of competitions, and once again the two sides are in-form, Real Salt Lake shedding its tough spring and currently riding a five-game undefeated streak (1-0-4), while the Hoops have gone 10-1-3 in their last 14 games. While RSL (27 pts.) will be looking to gain ground on FC Dallas (34 pts.) in the Western Conference standings on Saturday, that day’s match-up will serve as a precursor to an even more crucial meeting just three days later on Tuesday, July 12, when the rivals will square off in the Quarterfinal Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Pizza Hut Park. While RSL’s 0-9-1 all-time road record in Dallas appears daunting, the bright side for the Utahns comes from the fact that the lone point gained at Pizza Hut Park came in their last visit earlier this season, a rain-soaked scoreless draw back on May 22.


RSL “Game Note” of the Match: Five Straight for the Sixth Time

Real Salt Lake’s comeback Monday against New England enabled the team to extend its unbeaten run to five MLS games, the current streak marking the sixth time in club history that the team has gone on a five-game stretch without a loss, which is tied for the third-longest streak ever in RSL annals … 2010 saw single-season runs of 10 and 14 games for Jason Kreis’ team without a loss, the latter extended to 18 with its hot regular-season start this year:


TEAM                   STK    START           END

Real Salt Lake      18        7/24/2010        4/13/2011


Real Salt Lake      10        5/01/2010        7/08/2010


Real Salt Lake     5          6/11/2011        Current

Real Salt Lake      5          7/26/2006        8/19/2006


Real Salt Lake      5          9/30/2006        4/14/2007


Real Salt Lake      5          5/31/2008        6/21/2008


Real Salt Lake      5          9/27/2008        10/25/2008


Real Salt Lake      5          6/06/2009        7/03/2009


RSL has already reached six unbeaten in all competitions, winning its 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup debut on June 28 with a 2-0 win over the visiting Wilmington Hammerheads … RSL travels to Dallas on July 12 for the Open Cup  Quarterfinal at Pizza Hut Park.


www.RealSaltLake.com / www.RioTintoStadium.com / www.ESPN700Sports.com