NEW YORK CITY (Wednesday, June 1, 2016) – Real Salt Lake hits the road again Thursday at Yankee Stadium against second-year club New York City FC at 5:00 p.m. MT in the finale of RSL’s club-record five-game road trip while Rio Tinto Stadium undergoes installation of a new surface. Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s team (6-4-2, 20 points, tied for 3rd in MLS w/ 1.67 points-per-game) seeks to enter Major League Soccer’s hiatus for Copa America Centenario on a positive note.
Thursday’s match will mark RSL’s first-ever visit to Yankee Stadium, home of NYCFC, now in its second season after joining Orlando City as an expansion club in 2015. Back on April 2, 2005, exactly 366 regular-season MLS games ago, Real Salt Lake made its MLS debut across the Hudson River at Giants Stadium, playing to a 0-0 draw against the team then known as the MetroStars.
In its 12-year history, RSL has posted a 4-3-1 mark in its debut games against MLS expansion teams since 2007, including a 1-0-1 mark against NYCFC (2-0 W) and Orlando (1-1 T) last year. In ROAD debuts against the same group, RSL has never won, posting an 0-4-3 mark with draws at Orlando, Toronto and Philadelphia and losing to Seattle, Portland, Vancouver and Montreal.
This week’s match will be televised in Utah via KMYU (English, David James & Brian Kamler) or heard via RSL outlets ESPN700 AM (English, Bill Riley, Jay Nolly, Spencer Warne & Jeremy Horton) & 102.3 FM / 1600 AM (Spanish, Fernando Hortal & Nelson Moran). Pre-game coverage airs live locally on ESPN700 AM at 4:00 p.m. MT, while KMYU’s three-hour window kicks off at 4:30 p.m. MT live from the Bronx.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake at New York City FC
- Coverage Begins: 4:30 p.m. MT
- TV: KMYU (2.2 air / 12 satellite / 643 Comcast HD) – David James & Brian Kamler
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (4:00 p.m. MT) – Bill Riley, Jay Nolly, Spencer Warne & Jeremy Horton
- Spanish Radio: 102.3 La Gran D FM / 1600 AM – Nelson Moran & Fernando Hortal
- Online: The @RealSaltLake Twitter feed provides updates
Game Guide for Thursday’s RSL at NYCFC Matchup Available Online
The link to the Adobe PDF version of the MLS Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Columbus is available by clicking HERE.
2016 REAL SALT LAKE NOTES –
RSL @ NEW YORK CITY FC – Thu., June 1, 2016 – 5:00 p.m. MT
RIOT RE-OPENS TUE., JUNE 14 FOR OPEN CUP ACTION: U.S. Soccer announced two weeks ago that Rio Tinto Stadium will reopen after a six-week midseason hiatus to host a Fourth-Round Match in the 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, as Real Salt Lake returns to Utah soil on Tuesday, June 14 at 8:00 p.m. MT … The Claret-and-Cobalt face off against the Third-Round winner of the Wilmington Hammerheads (USL) at Miami FC (NASL), who compete on the first day of June for the right to travel to Sandy in the 103rd edition of U.S. Soccer’s longest ongoing tourney …
RSL owns an all-time 8-2-0 record at Rio Tinto Stadium in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play, outscoring visitors 21-10 … Against lower-division clubs, RSL is 5-1-0 at home, losing its 2012 Round of 32 match before more than 17,000+ in a 1-3 shocker to the Minnesota Stars of the NASL … The following year saw RSL host five consecutive games en route to the 2013 LHUSOC Final, which it ultimately lost, 0-1, to D.C. United …
Following the field renovation and the league-wide Copa America break in early June, RSL will play five of its next six and seven of its next nine at home, leading into the annual MLS All-Star Break in late July … RSL also sees another late-season stretch of six out of eight at home from late August to late October, prior to the season finale at Seattle on Oct. 23 …
RSL SEEKS TO RESTORE ROAR AT RIOT FORTRESS: RSL ended its disappointing 2015 campaign with a home 12-4-6 record across all competitions (just a 7-4-6 RioT mark in MLS play), with the pair of late-season 0-1 losses to Portland & Dallas just the club’s 4th & 5th in its last 47 home games overall, dating back to the 2013 Open Cup Final ... The six draws at home equaled the club’s all-time season high, set in 2006 and 2008 ...
Last year’s ignominy snapped a 7-year run that had seen RSL average 2.00 points per game or more at home each MLS season from 2008-14, as well as a 5-year streak of 10 or more home wins in league play … With recent 1-goal home wins over Seattle, Vancouver, Colorado and Houston, RSL is a perfect 4-0-0 (3.00 points-per-game this season) …
Since the beginning of 2008, RSL now boasts a 102-22-40 mark in its last 164 home games (all comps) in that span, during which it has outscored opponents by 172 goals (289-117), with an 81-17-36 reg. season mark (236/96), the 8-1-2 CCL record (21/7), 5-2-2 playoffs (11/4), as well as an 8-2-0 Open Cup mark (21/10) ...
EARLY PACING STILL BODES WELL FOR RSL: Saturday’s 3-4 loss at Columbus dropped RSL to 6-4-2 and 20 points from 12 games, the Claret-and-Cobalt remaining one of the top three teams with a 1.67 points-per-game average (RSL trails both Colorado – 2.00 – and Dallas – 1.80, while it is tied with LA), RSL remains on a record pace for 57 points in 2016, a pacing which could improve once the club returns to Rio Tinto Stadium, where six of RSL’s eight MLS games between mid-June and late July will occur …
