On Saturday, Real Salt Lake will be one month from its season-opening match against the Portland Timbers. With four weeks remaining in the preseason, Head Coach Jeff Cassar will have a chance to see the next barometer in the team’s progress when RSL meets UC-Irvine at Anteater Stadium in a closed-door scrimmage.
With attention shifting to defensive shape and attacking combinations, there is a lot to be accomplished in the match, even if RSL is still likely to be battling some fatigue.
“You hope to see some of the things we’ve been working on. Whether that’s just movement, being in good defensive shape, good reactions to difficult situations,” Cassar said. “This week’s been fantastic so far with that. I want the guys to be rewarded for the hard work they’ve been putting in this week.”
RSL held five training sessions at Anteater Stadium in four days this week leading up to the match on Saturday. Cassar plans to play two separate lineups in the 45-minute halves, as he did last week in a 2-1 loss to the New England Revolution in Casa Grande, Arizona.
The team is much further advanced now and while Cassar has emphasized that it’s not yet near a finished product, the progress is palpable in training.
“We want to put a good strong performance,” Cassar said. “It’s going to be a good opportunity for everyone to showcase their abilities.”
The players are excited to have a measuring stick in front of them, too. UC-Irvine is no slouch either, having reached the NCAA Tournament in 2014, beating UNLV and Stanford before falling to Providence in the third round.
“The UCI team has been solid and organized. We’re fatigued at the end of the preseason week, but it will be good to get a result and, more importantly, some positive play we can build on,” said defender Tony Beltran. “I think it will be good for the guys to play on a full field, get a game underneath our belt. And you can’t beat playing a game in this weather. So it will be fun.”
Kickoff is scheduled for noon MT and the match will be live-Tweeted. Follow @RealSaltLake for coverage.
