PREGAME FACT & INFO SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE v COLORADO RAPIDS
SAT., APRIL 16, 2016 – 8 p.m. MT – RIO TINTO STADIUM
on KMYU, ESPN700 & 102.3 LaGranD / 1600 AM
1 – LOSS AT HOME ALL-TIME AGAINST VISITING CANADIAN TEAMS, as RSL fell to 11-1-5 with last April’s 0-1 home loss to Vancouver … RSL has not defeated the Whitecaps in the clubs’ last six meetings over the 2014 and 2015 seasons, posting an 0-4-2 mark against Carl Robinson’s side, including an 0-1-2 mark at Rio Tinto Stadium …
3 – HOME GAMES this month for RSL, which traveled for 3 of its first 4 to open the year, a total which will eventually include a club-record 9 of its first 13 league matches this year away from home … The glut of early-season road matches is due to a resurfacing of Rio Tinto Stadium in the month of May, with the venue re-opening to MLS and USL play on June 18 with an exact replica of the original field installed back in September, 2008 … RSL is back at Rio Tinto Stadium tonight for the first of 3 home games in April, first against Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado and then against Vancouver next Saturday and Houston on April 30, sandwiched around a trip to LA on April 23 …
3 – 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 last week against Colorado (1-0, Morales came off bench and helped create game-winning goal) … This year’s total of 2 wins without the #maestro even appearing exceeds 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 … In the 2014/15 seasons, RSL won just 4 out of 16 games played without the 10th-year Argentine, a number the club can equal tonight, as Morales will not appear in the 18 after training just ½ a session this week due to a battle with the flu …
5 – GAME UNBEATEN START FOR RSL FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE SEASON, as the 3-0-2 mark gives Jeff Cassar and his club a 7-0-8 cumulative record in the first five games of 2014-16 … RSL struggled last April, posting a 1-2-1 mark, but needs a strong month at home to create a likely-needed cushion going into the club-record 5-game road trip from May 7 to June 2 …
5 – ALL-TIME GAMES (out of the 425 played across all competitions) THAT HAVE SEEN RSL DOWN TO NINE MEN, with both Captain Kyle Beckerman and DF Jamison Olave seeing red on March 19 at Portland … RSL has suffered 12 red card ejections in MLS play in each of the last two seasons, including 3 in 5 games already this year … Of the five occasions that RSL has been down to just nine players, three have been in the last 34 MLS games going back to April, 2015, a streak started with Vancouver’s April 2014 visit, which saw Olave and rookie Sebastian Saucedo ejected …
6 – WINS NEEDED by RSL icon Nick Rimando this season to surpass all-time MLS leader Kevin Hartman for all-time victories … Rimando – already the all-time MLS leader in shutouts (124) by 12 over Hartman, despite playing 18 fewer games – could eclipse the longtime LA/DAL/KC/NY ‘keeper in several categories, including wins (needs 6 to surpass), starts (14), games (19) and minutes (1,288) … “The Wall of the Wasatch” is roughly ½ a season away from securing G.O.A.T. (“Greatest of All Time”) status …
8 – COMBINED GOALS AND ASSISTS this season across all competitions for RSL FW Joao Plata, who has scored (4x) or assisted (3x) on seven of the club’s nine 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 …
13 – GAMES UNBEATEN AT HOME FOR RSL OVER COLORADO, the Claret-and-Cobalt posting an 9-0-4 mark against its Rocky Mountain Cup rival on Utah soil … Since the Rapids won at Rice-Eccles Stadium in a 2-0 decision on April 30, 2007, RSL has outscored Colorado 22-5 in the resultant dozen games, claiming 7 of the last 9 fan-created Rocky Mountain Cups … The clubs contest the regional bragging rights twice more this season, as RSL goes to Colorado on May 7 in a game that will presumably include USMNT MF Jermaine Jones for his first taste of the series, with RSL hosting Jones, Colorado and potentially GK Tim Howard on Friday, August 26 in the nationally-televised Cup-decider …
16 – CAREER GOALS SCORED by returning RSL FW Yura Movsisyan in MLS action, the Armenian international needing just 2 to surpass former boss Jason Kreis and move into 8th all-time in the RSL golden boot race … Yura has scored 16 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) …
64 – GOALSCORERS in RSL’s 12-year, 127-player, 359-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 …
100 – HOME WINS since 2008, as RSL has amassed a 100-22-40 mark on home soil in all competitions in its last 162 home matches, during which it has outscored opponents by 170 goals (287-117) … Last week marked RSL’s most recent home MLS match of 2016 at Rio Tinto Stadium, the club amassing an all-time home 79-17-36 record in MLS reg. season games (234-96 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 (MF Fito Ovalle was on a season-long loan to the USL Monarchs) participated in league action …
200 – DF Tony Beltran made his 200th career MLS reg. season appearance last week vs. Colorado, becoming 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 (252), Kyle Beckerman (234), Javier Morales (213) Chris Wingert (208) and Nat Borchers (205)...
