SANDY, Utah (Friday, August 4, 2016) – Real Salt Lake returns to Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday with an 8:00 p.m. MT kickoff, hosting the Chicago Fire in the 10th and final game of the year against Eastern Conference sides, as the Claret-and-Cobalt have posted a 3-2-4 record this season against the other conference after earning 3 points earlier this week in road matches at Philadelphia (2-1 W) and Toronto FC (0-1 L). On the Wasatch Front, RSL is 1-0-3 against previous Eastern visitors so far in 2016, and 38-5-18 all-time in Sandy (MLS reg. season only).
Saturday’s match against Chicago welcomes the Fire – the lone Utah visitor with a +.500 mark (3-2-3) and a positive goal difference against RSL (+5) – as well as former RSL player Arturo Alvarez (2011). The game can be seen locally on KMYU (English, David James and Brian Dunseth) and heard via RSL outlets ESPN700 AM (English, Bill Riley, Jay Nolly, Spencer Warne & Trey Fitz-Gerald) & 102.3 FM / 1600 AM (Spanish, Fernando Hortal & Nelson Moran). Pre-game coverage airs live locally on ESPN700 AM at 7:00 p.m. MT.
RSL concluded this week’s two-game Eastern swing with an 0-1 loss Wednesday night at Toronto FC, as numerous attacking chances were created but not finished, RSL ultimately doomed by a Tosaint Ricketts goal against the run of play. Still buoyed by Sunday’s come-from-behind, 2-1 win at Philadelphia, Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s team is now 9-7-7, 34 points, 6th-best in MLS w/ a 1.48 points-per-game average. Sunday, RSL rebounded from an 0-1 halftime deficit at Philadelphia via a pair of “world-class” goals from FW Joao Plata and MF Javier Morales just minutes apart in the early second half, Plata’s strike outdistancing Morales’ in the AT&T MLS Goal of the Week Semifinal stage.
Saturday against Chicago, RSL GK and MLS icon Nick Rimando – known affectionately as “The Wall of the Wasatch” – seeks his all-time MLS record-setting 181st career win, 114 of which have come in his 10 seasons with the Claret-and-Cobalt. Rimando’s next win – along with four games played and 49 saves – will move him past Kevin Hartman for the all-time MLS lead in every key goalkeeping category. Rimando captured the MLS shutout crown last season – he now has 126 in his illustrious career with Miami, D.C. United and RSL – while surpassing Hartman’s 411 career starts earlier this week (now 413) and becoming Major League Soccer’s all-time minutes played leader with 37,323.
Saturday’s match kicks off a run that sees RSL play four of its next five games at home, six of the next eight and 7 of 10 at Rio Tinto Stadium. Despite an active streak of four consecutive draws on Utah soil for the first time in the club’s 12-year, 377-game MLS history, the Claret-and-Cobalt are well-positioned to take advantage of its dominant home-field history during the Western Conference stretch run.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake v. Chicago Fire
- Coverage Begins: 7:30 p.m. MT
- Local TV: KMYU – David James & Brian Dunseth
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (4:00 p.m. MT) – Bill Riley, Jay Nolly, Spencer Warne & Trey Fitz-Gerald
- Spanish Radio: 102.3 La Gran D FM / 1600 AM – Nelson Moran & Fernando Hortal
- Online: The @RealSaltLake Twitter feed provides updates
Game Guide for Saturday’s RSL v. Chicago Matchup Available Online
The link to the Adobe PDF version of the Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Chicago Fire is available by clicking HERE.
