PREGAME FACT & INFO SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE @ FC DALLAS
SAT., JUNE 25, 2016 – 6:00 p.m. MT – TOYOTA STADIUM
on KMYU, ESPN700 & 102.3 LaGranD / 1600 AM
0 – PREVIOUS VISITS BY EUROPEAN TEAMS TO FACE REAL SALT LAKE, prior to this Summer’s mid-July visit by Italian power Inter Milan to Rio Tinto Stadium … The legendary club – one which has won 39 total trophies, including a FIFA Club World Cup, three UEFA Champions League titles (most recently in 2010), three UEFA Cups, two InterContinental Cups, 18 Serie A titles, seven Italian Cups and five Italian SuperCups … The game will be played on either July 19 or 20, based on RSL’s Open Cup advancement scenario Tuesday at home against Seattle …
.773 – ALL-TIME #RioT WINNING PERCENTAGE for RSL in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play, the club owning an all-time 8-2-1 record, outscoring visitors 23-12 … Against lower-division clubs, RSL is now 5-1-1 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 …
Including MLS “qualifiers” or “play-in” games from 2007-10, RSL’s all-time record in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup contests is 11-11-2, the lone draw prior to Tuesday coming back in 2010 at San Jose, RSL advancing via shootout at Buck Shaw Stadium … All-time, RSL has outscored opponents 43-41 in LHUSOC competition …
1.80 – POINTS PER GAME FOR RSL THROUGH 15 GAMES, TIED FOR #2 OVERALL IN MLS … RSL trails only Colorado (2.00) as Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s pacing is impressive, with RSL on a record-setting extrapolation to 60 points for the Claret/Cobalt, especially with 9 of the previous 15 games away from home, where RSL is 5-0-1 in league action this season, with 4 of the next 6 at the friendly RioT confines …
2 – WINS NEEDED FOR RSL GK NICK RIMANDO TO SURPASS KEVIN HARTMAN for the top spot on Major League Soccer’s all-time list, as the “Wall of the Wasatch” earned career victory #179 Wednesday … Rimando – already the all-time MLS leader in shutouts (125) by 13 over Hartman, despite playing 9 fewer games – could eclipse the longtime LA/DAL/KC/NY ‘keeper in several categories this Summer, including wins (needs 2 to surpass), starts (5 entering tonight), games (10) and minutes (478) … While Rimando’s career 1.19 goals against average is better than Hartman’s 1.22, “The Wall of the Wasatch” will probably have to wait until next year to eclipse the save total (61 behind) or shots faced (80 behind) to complete a sweep of every significant all-time category … Rimando has never come off the bench in his 407 career MLS appearances …
3 – CAREER APPEARANCES AT DALLAS FOR RSL GK JEFF ATTINELLA, who made his MLS debut on July 13, 2013, when former RSL GK Josh Saunders blew out his knee on a goal kick … Attinella has allowed just one goal in his 3 games at Toyota Stadium, totaling 219 minutes for a 0.41 GAA …
4 – COMEBACK WINS ALREADY THIS YEAR, coming in trio of 2-1 home victories over Seattle, Houston and New York Red Bulls, as well as the 3-2 win on the road in early June at NYCFC – quadrupling 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 … RSL also scratched back from an 0-2 deficit at home in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play against Wilmington, the game officially a draw with RSL advancing via penalty kicks …
10 – CHANGES TONIGHT TO JEFF CASSAR’S STARTING 11, with only MF Luke Mulholland reprising his role from Wednesday … MF Javier Morales, FW Juan Manuel Martinez, MF Sunday Stephen and DF Aaron Maund did not travel, while GK Nick Rimando, DF Tony Beltran, DF Demar Phillips, DF Justen Glad, FW Yura Movsisyan and FW Joao Plata are each on the bench tonight … (see note 196 for more on this storyline)
11 – GAMES OUT OF THE LAST 15 WITH MULTIPLE GOALS SCORED BY RSL THIS SEASON, finding the back of the net twice on six occasions prior to posting three goals at KC, Columbus and New York, prior to the multiple-goal efforts against Wilmington, Portland and Red Bulls in the last 11 days …
15 – GOALS SCORED FOR RSL IN THE LAST SIX GAMES, a 3-2 win at New York and a 3-1 win at Kansas City sandwiched around a 3-4 loss at Columbus, prior to the 2-2 draws with Wilmington and Portland last week, and Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Red Bulls … The three goals scored each of the last three games on RSL’s epic road trip marked the first time EVER in RSL’s 369 career MLS contests that the club scored 3+ in a trio of consecutive matches; however, in 2013, RSL did score 3 or more goals in 4 consecutive games (2 Open Cup games + 2 MLS games) …
18 – DENIALS IN 46 PK ATTEMPTS for RSL GK Nick Rimando, as the “Wall of the Wasatch” extended his stellar run of success by stoning Galaxy MF Steven Gerrard from the spot on April 23 … Rimando’s denial on a total of 18 of 46 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 76 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) … So so close last game out against David Villa and NYCFC …
21 – CAREER GOALS SCORED by returning RSL FW Yura Movsisyan in MLS action, the Armenian international scoring in each of his last four starts to surpass Jason Kreis and Jeff Cunningham to move into 7th all-time in the RSL golden boot race … Yura’s 21 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) ranks him fourth overall amongst active RSL players, behind Javier Morales (45), Kyle Beckerman (25) and Joao Plata (25) …
27 – GAMES PLAYED IN LAST THREE SEASONS WITHOUT CAPTAIN KYLE BECKERMAN FOR RSL, the club amassing an overall 11-9-8 mark across all competitions without #KB5 … 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 …
58 – GOALS ALLOWED IN LAST 27 ROAD GAMES BY RSL, an astonishing 2.13 goals per game, three times more than its 0.77 GAA over same period at home … On 12 occasions – nearly half of the last 27 road games – RSL has allowed 3 or more goals, posting a 6-17-3 mark away dating back to last Easter …
103 – HOME WINS since 2008, as RSL has amassed a 103-22-42 mark on home soil in all competitions in its last 167 home matches, during which it has outscored opponents by 173 goals (295-122) … The 2-1 win over Red Bulls Wednesday marked RSL’s most recent match at Rio Tinto Stadium, the club amassing an all-time home 82-17-37 record in MLS reg. season games (240-99 goals), and an 8-1-2 CCL mark (21-7), a 5-2-2 playoff resume (11-4), and an 8-2-1 ledger in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (23-12) …
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 …
193 – COMBINED STARTS FOR 9 OF RSL’S 11 STARTERS TONIGHT, less than that for either DF Chris Wingert (271) or DF Jamison Olave (202) … RSL rookie MF Omar Holness makes his full debut in MLS action after logging just 3 minutes 11 days ago in Open Cup action, while DF Boyd Okwuonu will make his 2nd career start tonight (1-3 L at Colorado on July 11, 2015) … DF Phanuel Kavita makes his 3rd career MLS start (2-2 T at Columbus 6/27/15 and 0-4 L at Vancouver last August) … MF Luke Mulholland leads the crew w/ 59 career starts, followed by FW Olmes Garcia (35), FW Devon Sandoval (35), GK Jeff Attinella (26), MF Jordan Allen (18) and MF John Stertzer (17) … However, Garcia is making his first start of the season tonight, while Sandoval makes just his second …
