HERRIMAN, Utah (Thursday, September 1, 2022) – Real Salt Lake announced today that it has agreed to loan forward Chris Garcia to USL Championship side El Paso Locomotive FC for the remainder of the season. RSL reserves the right to terminate the loan as necessary.
Garcia, 19, signed a Homegrown contract with Real Salt Lake on February 10, 2020, after joining the RSL Academy in 2018. An El Paso native, the forward has spent the majority of his time this season with MLS NEXT Pro side Real Monarchs, recording one goal and two assists in 10 matches this season.
TRANSACTION: Real Salt Lake loan forward Chris Garcia to El Paso Locomotive FC on Thursday, September 1, 2022.
As of September 1, 2022, Real Salt Lake’s current roster during the ongoing MLS campaign, listed alphabetically by position, is as follows:
Goalkeepers (4): Gavin Beavers, Jeff Dewsnup, Zac MacMath, Tomás Gómez
Defenders (10): Andrew Brody, Zack Farnsworth, Justen Glad, Aaron Herrera, Erik Holt, Johan Kappelhof, Jaziel Orozco, Bryan Oviedo, Marcelo Silva, Tate Schmitt
Midfielders (11): Julio Benitez, Nick Besler, Scott Caldwell, Maikel Chang, Bode Hidalgo, Damir Kreilach, Jasper Löffelsend, Diego Luna, Braian Ojeda, Pablo Ruiz, Jude Wellings
Forwards (8): Sergio Cordova, Anderson Julio, Axel Kei, Justin Meram, Danny Musovski, Rubio Rubin, Jefferson Savarino, Bobby Wood
With 42 points accumulated through 28 games of the 2022 MLS campaign, Real Salt Lake (11-8-9, 42pts, 6th West) is part of an six-team glut from 3rd to 8th place separated by just six points in the race for the 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs (seven teams) and a home postseason match (top four teams). Now guided the last 42 games by former USA star Pablo Mastroeni, the Club’s sixth head coach in 18 seasons, RSL has the opportunity to qualify for the MLS postseason for the 12th time in 15 seasons and earn a home playoff match for the first time since 2019 with a successful finish.
For the first time in Club history, RSL has opened the year with 14 consecutive sellouts in Sandy, Utah – the 8-2-4 (W-L-T) home record is amongst the best in MLS this season – while Mastroeni and staff have utilized 29 players and 24 starters throughout an injury-filled first half of the year, as the Club has seen nearly 160 combined games of player availability lost due to injury, suspension or international duty.
Real Salt Lake finished last season in dramatic fashion, booking its place in the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs on Decision Day before making a run to the Western Conference Final following a 14-14-6 regular-season record.
