PREGAME FACTS AND INFO SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE @ LA GALAXY
WED., MAY 27, 2015 – 8:30 pm MT on KMYU & ESPN700 / 102.3 LaGranD / 1600 AM
1 – goals scored in opening 15 minutes for RSL this year, after accumulating a league-leading total of 10 in 2014 … The club’s first of 2015 came when Jordan Allen found Alvaro Saborio in the 13th minute of the club’s 2-1 W at Chicago …
2 – road games still remaining in this 7-game month including today, as RSL hits the road again for a back-to-back against West foes LA – the club’s first Stubhub return since last Fall’s 0-5 playoff elimination – and a continuation up the West Coast to Vancouver this Saturday, the first game on the new BC Place turf being installed for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup …
3 – consecutive games on the scoresheet for RSL FW Devon Sandoval, with game-winning assists on May 9 at Chicago and May 23 v NYCFC, to go along with his MLS Goal of the Week in the 1-4 loss at Montreal on May 16 … RSL is averaging 1.3 goals per 90 minutes with the third-year man out of New Mexico on the field (10 games played, 5 starts), compared to a 0.6 average when he is on the bench …
5 – goals conceded in 90 minutes at LA by RSL in last Fall’s Western Conference Semifinal Leg Two at Stubhub, RSL’s worst-ever playoff loss and the second-worst loss in club history (0-6 at NY after 8’ red card to Jack Stewart at the Meadowlands) …
6 – home MLS games out of eight to be played from June 7 – July 24, with an additional U.S. Open Cup match on June 16/17 and potentially another on June 30/July 1 … All told, RSL could have 8 out of 10 games at home in this critical stretch in league and Open Cup play …
7 – consecutive playoff berths for RSL from 2008-14 (the longest active run in MLS), during which time the club has amassed a 99-66-62 record (avg. of 1.58 points per game) … RSL also owns a league-record 5 consecutive seasons with 15+ wins and 50+ points, matching LA’s active run from 2010 to present …
8 – number of RSL games likely missed by RSL #SwissArmyKnife Jordan Allen, who departed post-game last week in Montreal for Auckland, New Zealand, to represent the USA in the FIFA Under-20 Youth World Championship … Expecting a deep run from the U.S., RSL will play 7 league games and at least 1 Open Cup match between now and June 28, Allen’s anticipated return date …
9 – consecutive seasons in an RSL uniform for GK Nick Rimando, MF Kyle Beckerman & MF Javier Morales … The longest-tenured RSL men also rank 1-2 amongst Major League Soccer’s active leaders in games/starts/minutes (Rimando: 380/380/34,363; Beckerman: 365/336/30,172) … Morales has either scored or assisted on nearly 25% of the club’s all-time 441 goals scored, with the Argentine “maestro” tallying 39 goals and 68 assists, despite missing most of the 2011 season …
11 – the number of current RSL players potentially involved in national team call-ups this summer, as MF Jordan Allen (U.S. U-20 at FIFA Youth World Championship), DF Boyd Okwuonu (U.S. U-23s at Toulon tournament), MF Luis Gil (U.S. U-23s + full U.S. national team), GK Nick Rimando & MF Kyle Beckerman (full U.S. national team), FW Alvaro Saborio (Costa Rica), DF Abdoulie Mansally (The Gambia), DF Demar Phillips (Jamaica), DF Elias Vasquez (Guatemala), DF Justen Glad (U.S. U-18s) and FW Sebastian Saucedo (U.S. U-18s) all could disappear for one or more games at a time …
13 – club-high goal total a year ago by RSL FW Joao Plata, who made his 2015 debut in the final minute Saturday … Plata broke the fifth metatarsal on his left foot in an indoor turf non-contact incident on January 29, in the club’s first preseason session … During the offseason, RSL purchased outright the contract for the 22-year old diminutive forward, making him one of the club’s three designated players …
14 – wins needed by RSL GK Nick Rimando in 2015 to become Major League Soccer’s all-time leader in that category, overtaking Kevin Hartman … Rimando now has 120 career shutouts, 8 more than Hartman in 37 fewer games all-time …
20 – players to have started a game for RSL this year in the club’s first 13 games this season, as MF Wellington “Pecka” Paeckart makes his first XI debut tonight in LA … RSL boss Jeff Cassar has given 25 players minutes this year, meaning everyone on the roster except GK Lalo Fernandez, DF Justen Glad & DF Boyd Okwuonu have seen MLS time …
25 – all-time PK denials by RSL GK Nick Rimando, who went 2-for-3 in his three recent games on PKs – denying LA MF Juninho in stoppage-time prior to Jeff Larentowicz’s consolation late at Chicago (Rimando denied Piatti May 16 in Montreal to boot) … Opposing PK takers have seen their conversion rates now drop to 43-for-68 against Rimando all-time, including 22-for-38 with Nick in an RSL uniform … Amazingly, Rimando has stopped 8 of the last 11 PKs faced and 10 of the last 15 … #WalloftheWasatch indeed … Rimando has faced a PK in each of his last 3 reg. season visits against the Galaxy, as well as in each of his last 3 visits to the Stubhub Center (twice against LA, once against Chivas USA), stopping them all …
29 – all-time MLS reg. season matches played between RSL and LA Galaxy, with a perfectly even 11-11-7 record for each team in the series … an additional six playoff matches have been played between the clubs, all coming in four postseason series in the last six years, each side eliminating the other twice (RSL winning MLS Cup in 2009 and the West Semis in 2013, LA eliminating RSL in 2011 West Finals and the 2014 West Semis) …
43 – wins when FW Alvaro Saborio scores in all competitions for RSL, the club recording a 43-6-13 mark all-time when the Costa Rican international finds the back of the net … RSL is only 22-35-26 when he plays and doesn’t score, but is 25-12-8 when he is unavailable due to suspension, injury or national team duty …
58 – number of players in RSL’s 11-year, 123-player history to have scored at least one goal for the Claret-and-Cobalt, now that third-year MF John Stertzer found the back of the net with Saturday night’s game-winner at home vs. NYCFC …
101 – wins in his 8-year RSL career for GK Nick Rimando, with nearly 80% of the club’s all-time 124 victories …
111 – Veteran RSL DF Tony Beltran has earned the start in 111 of the club’s last 129 games (including today) on the right side of the back four ... The RSL “Iron Man” – part of a 3-man outside back rotation with Chris Wingert and Robbie Russell prior to RSL’s trade of Russell to D.C. United prior to the 2012 season – has remained injury-free and playing at a high level, usually seeing days off only in exhibition or Open Cup play, or sometimes succumbing to a rotation during 3-game weeks ...
123 – players to have taken the field in MLS play for Real Salt Lake in last 11 seasons, now that 25-year old Brazilian MF Wellington “Pecka” Paeckart made his debut a month ago at New England …
366 – career MLS appearances for RSL MF Kyle Beckerman, including tonight, allowing him to surpass former teammate Jeff Cunningham into sole possession of 4th place all-time, only 13 games away from becoming Major League Soccer’s all-time games played leader amongst field players … Beckerman trails Steve Ralston, Nick Rimando and Kevin Hartman in that category, while placing fifth in starts (337, four behind GK Joe Cannon and 35 behind Ralston) and minutes played at 30,148 (583 behind GK Joe Cannon, and 2,994 behind Ralston) …
