PREGAME FACTS AND INFO SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE v LOS ANGELES GALAXY
WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015 – 7:30 pm MT on KMYU & ESPN700 / 102.3 LaGranD / 1600 AM
0 – the number of shots on goal in Friday’s 1-1 draw with San Jose, the second time in club history that RSL salvaged a point at home against the Earthquakes via a late own goal, this time by Victor Bernardez … Former SJ DF Chris Leitch saw an 89th minute OG extend RSL’s home unbeaten streak back on July 3, 2009 … Last Friday marked only the 5th time in 328 MLS reg. season matches that the club failed to register a shot on goal, and the first time ever in 164 home matches …
1 – after the April 25 loss at NE, the number of times in RSL’s 384-game MLS reg. season/playoff, CONCACAF Champions League and U.S. Open Cup history that only 16 players would dress and be available, due to injury, suspension or international duty depleting bench options …
2 – starts together, including tonight, by RSL’s “twin tower” FW tandem of Alvaro Saborio & Devon Sandoval … The duo have appeared together at various junctures the last three seasons when RSL has chased the game, but only have started together on one previous occasion – April 6, 2013, at Colorado in Sandoval’s second-ever start as a rookie … RSL lost that game, 0-1, at the Rapids …
3 – career starts, including tonight, for second-year RSL #swissarmyknife Jordan Allen … Tonight will be the 20-year old’s first-ever RSL start on the side of the diamond in a 4-4-2, with his two previous starts coming up top April 5 at San Jose and April 11 vs. Vancouver …
4 – road games after tonight in the next five remaining May games, as RSL kicks off its first of a pair of two-game road trips Saturday in Chicago … The next two weekends, May 9 and 16, see RSL travel to the Fire and then to Montreal for a pair of Eastern Conference road trips, while Wednesday, May 27 involves a return trip to LA – the club’s first since last Fall’s 0-5 playoff elimination at the Stubhub Center – and a continuation up the West Coast to Vancouver on Saturday, May 30, the first game on the new BC Place turf being installed for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup … The pair of road forays this month are sandwiched around the much-anticipated Rio Tinto Stadium visit on Saturday, May 23, from former captain/head coach Jason Kreis and expansion NYCFC, the new home for such RSL luminaries as Ned Grabavoy, Chris Wingert, Mehdi Ballouchy, Josh Saunders, Kwame Watson-Siriboe and Sebastian Velazquez.
5 – home losses, including last month, in last 3 RSL seasons … Three of the 5 Rio Tinto Stadium losses since 2013 have involved a red card for the home team, as last week against Vancouver also marked the club’s first home reg. season shutout loss since March, 2012, against Chivas (RSL did drop 0-1 home decisions in the 2012 West Semis to Seattle and the 2013 U.S. Open Cup Final in October of that year to D.C. United) …
7 – consecutive playoff berths for RSL from 2008-14 (the longest active run in MLS), during which time the club has amassed a 99-66-62 record (avg. of 1.58 points per game) … RSL also owns a league-record 5 consecutive seasons with 15+ wins and 50+ points, matching LA’s active run from 2010 to present …
9 – consecutive seasons in an RSL uniform for GK Nick Rimando, MF Kyle Beckerman & MF Javier Morales … The longest-tenured RSL men also rank 1-2 amongst Major League Soccer’s active leaders in games/starts/minutes (Rimando: 376/376/34,003; Beckerman: 361/332/29,796) … Morales has either scored or assisted on nearly 25% of the club’s all-time 441 goals scored, with the Argentine “maestro” tallying 39 goals and 68 assists, despite missing most of the 2011 season …
10 – goals scored in opening 15 minutes for RSL last year, a league-leading total … club still awaiting first of 2015
16 – wins needed by RSL GK Nick Rimando in 2015 to become Major League Soccer’s all-time leader in that category, overtaking Kevin Hartman … Rimando has 117 career shutouts, 5 more than Hartman in 41 fewer games all-time …
19 – consecutive sellout streak at Rio Tinto Stadium broken last Friday v San Jose, when RSL fell 400 tickets shy of a capacity crowd … The “#RioT” has been sold out in 21 of last 24 and 25 of club’s last 31 games … Tonight will likely finish a few hundred shy of the official 20,200 sellout number as well …
41 – wins when FW Alvaro Saborio scores in all competitions for RSL, the club recording a 41-6-13 mark all time when the Costa Rican international finds the back of the net … RSL is only 22-34-25 when he plays and doesn’t score, but is 25-12-8 when he is unavailable due to suspension, injury or national team duty …
56 – points earned by boss Jeff Cassar in his first season at the helm, with a 15-8-11 record … Cassar and his RSL club got out of the gates a year ago with a league-record-tying 12 games unbeaten (6-0-6), the best mark since 1996 for a rookie head coach …
99 – wins in his 8-year RSL career for GK Nick Rimando, with nearly 80% of the club’s all-time 122 victories … Will tonight be #100?
108 – Veteran RSL DF Tony Beltran has earned the start in 108 of the club’s last 126 games (including today) on the right side of the back four ... The RSL “Iron Man” – part of a 3-man outside back rotation with Chris Wingert and Robbie Russell prior to RSL’s trade of Russell to D.C. United prior to the 2012 season – has remained injury-free and playing at a high level, usually seeing days off only in exhibition or Open Cup play, or sometimes succumbing to a rotation during 3-game weeks ...
123 – players to have taken the field in MLS play for Real Salt Lake in last 11 seasons, now that 25-year old Brazilian MF Wellington “Pecka” Paeckart made his debut last week at New England … Pecka celebrated his 26th birthday last week, on Saturday, May 2 …
387 – minutes played by RSL prior to Bernardez’ OG Friday night, since scoring a goal late in the first half at San Jose back on April 5 … The scoreless streak is the club’s longest in six years, and the 2nd-longest in club history … RSL’s expansion year saw a 557-minute drought, while 2007 saw a 370-minutes streak between goals … RSL has not scored a goal of its own in 406 active minutes entering tonight …
