Real Salt Lake is about to enter a difficult and treacherous stretch in the 2016 season with four matches in 12 days starting Tuesday with a matchup with the USL’s Wilmington Hammerheads in the Lamar U.S. Open Cup. That kicks off a summer that will see RSL play a minimum of 13 matches in 54 days between Tuesday and August 6.
With that amount of congestion and the potential for more if RSL can make a deep run in the Open Cup for the third time in the last four years, the brief break Major League Soccer took to kick off Copa America Centenario was a welcome addition to the schedule last week.
“It was good to get guys some rest. It’s such a long season and we’re approaching in my opinion the hardest part when it gets so hot in the summer,” RSL defender Tony Beltran said. “To take those days off and get the rest now is very valuable.”
RSL went into the break on a high note after posting a 3-2 win over New York City FC on June 2 to finish off a six-week period that saw the club play five consecutive road matches. After going 2-3-0 in those matches, Salt Lake is now third in the Western Conference at 7-4-2 with a 3-4-2 record away from Rio Tinto Stadium.
Now with a freshly resurfaced field waiting at RSL’s home park, the Claret-and-Cobalt is thrilled to play eight out of 10 matches between Tuesday and July 22 at Rio Tinto Stadium, where it has posted a 4-0-0 record in MLS play and a 4-0-1 mark in all competitions that includes a 1-1 draw against CONCACAF Champions League runners-up Tigres.
Although RSL has been historically one of the best teams in MLS on home soil, the club isn’t about to take the opportunity in the next couple of months lightly.
“What a luxury to have eight of the next 10 at home and we deserve it after that last little road spell,” Beltran said. “But in this league if you want to be an elite team you have to win your home games. We have a huge opportunity in front of us, especially having some games in hand, to really establish ourselves as a dominant team in the West.”
Tickets are still available for Tuesday’s match against Wilmington, which is part of the Season Ticket package as Bonus Game A (Game 19).
