PREGAME FACT & INFO SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE @ COLUMBUS CREW SC
SAT., MAY 28, 2016 – 5:30 p.m. MT – MAPFRE STADIUM
on KMYU, ESPN700 & 102.3 LaGranD / 1600 AM
1 – ALL-TIME REGULAR-SEASON WIN IN OHIO, coming back in 2006 when MF Chris Klein and MF Carey Talley struck to lead RSL to its first-ever comeback win … Since then, RSL’s 1-7-1 record in Columbus in MLS reg. season matches has been palatable only by the club’s 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinal win – 3-2 – here, and RSL’s 0-0 draw in the 2011 CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal Leg One … In the last visit, in 2014, RSL GK Jeff Attinella stoned “Pipa” Higuain on an early PK and MF Luis Gil found the back of the net, but a late Justin Meram equalizer doomed RSL to settle for the draw …
1.82 – POINTS PER GAME FOR RSL THROUGH 11 GAMES, #3 OVERALL IN MLS entering the league’s 13th week of action … RSL trails only Colorado (2.08) and Dallas (1.86) and is tied with LA Galaxy at 1.82 … Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s pacing is impressive, with RSL on a record-setting extrapolation to 64 points for the Claret/Cobalt, especially with 7 of 11 games away from home, where RSL is a perfect 4-0-0 … Can RSL capture more points and even improve its average this week at Columbus and New York City? …
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 – OWN-GOAL GAME-WINNERS IN RSL’S 365-GAME MLS REGULAR-SEASON HISTORY, including last-week’s 3-1 win at Kansas City, which saw the ultimate decider slammed home off Brad Davis by a thundering Yura Movsisyan cross just before halftime … The three goals scored last week marks RSL’s season-high output, as RSL has now scored multiple goals in 7 of its 11 games, finding the back of the net twice on six occasions prior to last week’s outburst …
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 …
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 final week 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 – COMBINED STARTS THIS SEASON (including tonight) FOR A QUARTET OF CHANGES FROM LAST WEEK, as FW Devon Sandoval (1), M/F Jordan Allen (6), MF Luke Mulholland (5) and MF John Stertzer (5) fill in for FW Yura Movsisyan (illness), FW Juan Manuel Martinez (rest), MF Javier Morales (rest) and MF Kyle Beckerman (international duty) … Tonight marks Sandoval’s 2016 debut in the XI, while Allen and Mulholland have appeared in multiple roles this year … Stertzer has started alongside Sunny twice including tonight, and alongside Beckerman three times so far this season …
18 – CAREER GOALS SCORED by returning RSL FW Yura Movsisyan in MLS action, the Armenian international scoring last week to surpass former boss Jason Kreis and move into 8th all-time in the RSL golden boot race … Yura has scored 18 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 in each of three matches this year at Portland, vs. Houston and at Kansas City) … 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) …
23 – GAMES PLAYED IN LAST THREE SEASONS WITHOUT CAPTAIN KYLE BECKERMAN FOR RSL, the club amassing an overall 9-8-6 mark across all competitions without #KB5 … Earlier this season, RSL won 2-1 at Kansas City in the lone previous match without Beckerman, a game in which the dreadlocked leader was suspended; last year, with Kyle at Gold Cup or other USMNT duty, the club went 6-4-3 in MLS, CCL or Open Cup play, while posting a 2-4-3 record in 2014 with the Captain at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil or out due to other absences …
50% – GOALS SCORED OR ASSISTED THIS SEASON BY RSL FW JOAO PLATA, as the Ecudoran has scored (4x) or assisted (5x) on nine of the club’s 18 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 FW 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 …
64 – GOALSCORERS in RSL’s 12-year, 127-player, 365-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 on April 30 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) … RSL is back to reopen the RioT on Tuesday, June 14 in Open Cup action and June 18/22 in MLS play …
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 …
177 – CAREER WINS for RSL icon Nick Rimando, who needs just 4 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 13 fewer games – could eclipse the longtime LA/DAL/KC/NY ‘keeper in several categories, including wins (needs 4 to surpass), starts (9 entering tonight at Columbus), games (14) and minutes (838) … “The Wall of the Wasatch” is roughly ½ a season away from securing G.O.A.T. (“Greatest of All Time) status …
206 – DF Tony Beltran will make his 206th 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 (258), Kyle Beckerman (241), Javier Morales (218), Chris Wingert (212) and Nat Borchers (205)...
303 – GK Nick Rimando will make his 303rd appearance in an RSL uniform tonight, 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 505 total in 365 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 …
34,806 – 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) …
