PREGAME FACT & INFO SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE @ SPORTING KANSAS CITY
SAT., MAY 21, 2016 – 6:30 p.m. MT – BBVA COMPASS STADIUM
on KMYU, ESPN700 & 102.3 LaGranD / 1600 AM
1 – WIN ALREADY IN 2016 AT CHILDREN’S MERCY PARK, as RSL won 2-1 back on April 2 over KC … In that match, RSL was down five starters due to injury (Rimando and Morales) or suspension (Beckerman, Olave, Martinez), but rode goals from DF Justen Glad (his first as a professional) and MF Luke Mulholland, whose seeing-eye long-range blast through traffic proved to be the game-winner … RSL GK Jeff Attinella got the win and nearly the shutout that day, as a late John Stertzer foul outside the box was adjudged as a penalty kick, quickly converted by KC for the 2-1 scoreline …
2 – COMEBACK WINS ALREADY THIS YEAR, both coming in 2-1 home victories over Seattle and Houston, doubling the total deficits erased during the entire 2015 season … That lone come-from-behind win to capture the full 3 points from a losing position happened last October at Colorado, RSL winning 2-1 with late first-half goals by FW Joao Plata and MF Luke Mulholland …
3 – LOSSES THIS SEASON IN THE CLUB’S FIRST 10 GAMES – all coming in the last three on the road and the last four overall – as the 5-3-2 mark (17 points) gives Jeff Cassar and his club the #4 points-per-game average (1.70) going into tonight’s match at Kansas City … RSL trails two of the clubs to which it has lost on the road so far this year (Colorado, 2.00 and Los Angeles, 1.90, as well as Dallas at 1.77) …
3 – GAMES PLAYED BY RSL WITHOUT FW JOAO PLATA in the starting XI due to a hip flexor injury suffered 31 days ago, RSL losing 2-5 at LA on April 23 without the early-season MLS MVP candidate … Plata has scored (4x) or assisted (4x) on eight of the club’s 15 MLS goals in 2016, as well as hitting on the lone RSL goal in CCL play against Tigres earlier this year … For his efforts, the diminutive Ecuadoran was named the March 2016 Etihad MLS Player of the Month, RSL’s first winner of the monthly honor since June, 2010 (Nick Rimando) … Plata is just the fourth RSL player to have earned the award, as Rimando (2x), Jeff Cunningham and Alvaro Saborio join him …
4 – WINS THIS SEASON WITHOUT midfield maestro Javier Morales in the starting lineup, as RSL earned the full 3 points on March 12 v. Seattle (2-1, Morales did not dress), April 2 at Kansas City (2-1, Morales did not dress) and by 1-0 scores in each of two mid-April weeks against Colorado (Morales came off bench and helped create game-winning goal) and Vancouver (Morales did not dress) … This year’s total of 4 wins without the #maestro quadruples the number of wins (1) secured by RSL in 8 games played last season (out of 42) without Morales appearing as a starter or off the bench … The four wins this season without Morales equals the number of games won without the Argentine playmaker in the previous 42 played without him … RSL did manage to come back from an 0-1 deficit against Houston last week to win 2-1 with “the Maestro” in the starting XI and playing the full 90 …
5 – CONSECUTIVE REG. SEASON GAMES FOR RSL WITHOUT A LOSS TO KANSAS CITY, RSL winning three consecutive matches against KC, all by a 2-1 scoreline … The last visit to KC on April 2 was just the 2nd all-time win away for RSL at KC, its first at the venue now known as Children’s Mercy Park and the first since a 2009 win at Community America Ballpark across the street … The road team in this fixture has won just 2 games out of the last 13, as KC won at RioT back in 2013, as DF Ike Opara headed home the winner in the 97th minute …
6 – WEEKS BETWEEN HOME GAMES FOR RSL, as Rio Tinto Stadium hosts its “Grand Reopening” on TUESDAY, JUNE 14 for RSL’s debut in the 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against the winner of Miami FC (NASL) and Wilmington Hammerheads (USL) … Kickoff is at 8:00 p.m. MT, with RSL hoping to advance one step further than its appearance in the 2013 Final (lost 0-1 at home to DCU) … A year ago, RSL was eliminated from the Open Cup at the Semifinal stage by eventual champion Sporting Kansas City, which won 3-1 at what is now Children’s Mercy Park …
7 – TIMES THAT RSL HAS CONCEDED 5+ GOALS in club history, including the recent 2-5 loss at LA … That debacle marked just the 4th time RSL had allowed 5 or more goals since the beginning of 2007 …
9 – ROAD GAMES IN FIRST 13 OVERALL for RSL, as the Claret-and-Cobalt reach the midpoint tonight of its five-game road trip, with the May 7 – June 2 trip to Colorado, Houston, Kansas City, Columbus and New York City the longest in club history … The glut of early-season road matches is due to the resurfacing of Rio Tinto Stadium’s pitch, with the venue re-opening to MLS / USL and Open Cup play on June 14 with an exact replica of the original field installed back in September, 2008 …
12 – POINTS IN FOUR HOME GAMES SO FAR THIS YEAR, as RSL owns a perfect 4-0-0 league mark with 1-goal wins over Seattle and Houston (2-1), as well as Colorado and Vancouver (1-0) … RSL returns to its Rio Tinto Stadium home for league action on Sat., June 18 against Portland, following the current five-game road trip and four days after its 2016 Open Cup debut …
17 – CAREER GOALS SCORED by returning RSL FW Yura Movsisyan in MLS action, the Armenian international needing just 1 to surpass former boss Jason Kreis and move into 8th all-time in the RSL golden boot race … Yura has scored 17 league goals for RSL (15 from 2007-09, prior to a six-year career in Denmark and Russia that saw him score another 77 across all competitions, including the Armenian National Team; and one last match at Portland) … Amongst active RSL players, Yura ranks fourth overall, behind Javier Morales (45), Kyle Beckerman (25) and Joao Plata (25) …
18 – DENIALS IN 45 PK ATTEMPTS for RSL GK Nick Rimando, as the “Wall of the Wasatch” extended his stellar run of success by stoning Galaxy MF Stephen Gerrard from the spot on April 23 … Rimando’s denial on a total of 18 of 45 attempts during his 10 MLS seasons with RSL is about 30% higher than average, and his 8 PK saves in the 2013-16 seasons double the total of any other GK … For his MLS career, Rimando has now saved 27 of 75 attempts from the spot, in addition to his scintillating efforts in shootout tiebreakers to enable RSL to advance to and win MLS Cup 2009 (also engaged in playoff PK shootouts in 2004 with D.C. United and 2013 for RSL) …
64 – GOALSCORERS in RSL’s 12-year, 127-player, 364-game league history to have scored at least one MLS goal for the Claret-and-Cobalt, now that DF Justen Glad found the back of the net April 2 at Kansas City … Like Sunny before him back on March 12 at home, the 19-year old centerback nodded home a Joao Plata set piece offering for his first-ever MLS goal … Can Tony Beltran add his name to the list tonight?
102 – HOME WINS since 2008, as RSL has amassed a 102-22-40 mark on home soil in all competitions in its last 164 home matches, during which it has outscored opponents by 172 goals (289-117) … The 2-1 win over Houston last week marked RSL’s most recent match at Rio Tinto Stadium, the club amassing an all-time home 81-17-36 record in MLS reg. season games (236-96 goals), and an 8-1-2 CCL mark (21-7), a 5-2-2 playoff resume (11-4), and an 8-2-0 ledger in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (21-10) …
127 – players to have represented the Claret-and-Cobalt in MLS ACTION in the club’s first 12 seasons, as MF Stephen Sunday Obayan – nicknamed “Sunny” – became #127 on March 6 as he started the 2016 opener in Orlando, prior to being sacrificed after the Phillips red card … Last year saw HC Jeff Cassar give several players – Justen Glad, Phanuel Kavita, Boyd Okwuonu, Elias Vasquez, Demar Phillips, Sebastian Saucedo & Pecka – their MLS debuts … 28 players saw league minutes last year, meaning everyone on the roster except GK Lalo Fernandez participated in league action …
176 – CAREER WINS for RSL icon Nick Rimando, who needs just 5 more this season to surpass all-time MLS leader Kevin Hartman for all-time victories (180) … Rimando – already the all-time MLS leader in shutouts (125) by 13 over Hartman, despite playing 14 fewer games – could eclipse the longtime LA/DAL/KC/NY ‘keeper in several categories, including wins (needs 5 to surpass), starts (10), games (15) and minutes (928) … “The Wall of the Wasatch” is roughly ½ a season away from securing G.O.A.T. (“Greatest of All Time) status …
200 – CONSECUTIVE MINUTES WITHOUT A GOAL FOR RSL, IT’S LONGEST STRETCH OF THE SEASON … RSL has failed to scored in each of the last two matches and 200 minutes overall, dating back to FW Yura Movsisyan’s game-winner on April 30 at home against Houston … The club had scored in each of its first eight games prior to the scoreless streak, potting 2 goals in six of the initial eight games except the pair of 1-0 home wins in mid-April against Colorado and Vancouver …
205 – DF Tony Beltran will make his 205th career MLS reg. season appearance tonight, extending his status as the fifth active man in a select group to have reached 200+ games played for the Claret-and-Cobalt … Beltran joins a group of six overall with the honor, including Nick Rimando (257), Kyle Beckerman (240), Javier Morales (217), Chris Wingert (211 coming tonight) and Nat Borchers (205)...
302 – GK Nick Rimando will make his 302nd appearance in an RSL uniform this week, a month after making career MLS reg. season start #400 on April 23 at LA, becoming only the 2nd man in league history to reach the threshold (GK Kevin Hartman, 416) … Tony Meola is 2nd in MLS annals with all starts (no appearances off bench) at 250, a number Rimando reached back in the 2009 MLS Cup-winning season …
500 – With the April 30th 2-1 win over Houston, RSL surpassed the 500-point threshold in its 12-season MLS history, now at 502 total in 364 MLS regular-season contests … RSL’s all-time PPG average is just 1.39, but receives a significant boost from 2010-present, once the team embarked as defending MLS Cup Champions in its second season at Rio Tinto Stadium, with an average PPG of 1.62 …
34,666 – TOTAL COMBINED MINUTES PLAYED FOR RSL by defenders Chris Wingert and Tony Beltran, with only one goal scored in MLS regular-season play between the two (Wingert, at Chivas USA, 5/22/10) …
