PREGAME FACTS AND INFO SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE @ SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2015 – 3:00 pm MT on ESPN2 / ESPN700 / 102.3 LaGranD
0 – previous starts for RSL FW Jordan Allen, the 19-year old who provided the late game-winner last Sunday against Toronto FC … Allen will make his first-ever MLS start a year and two weeks after seeing his 2014 season shut down in San Jose, victim of a Shea Salinas tackle that led to microfracture surgery … Today will mark the former RSL-AZ academy player and Univ. of Virginia “one and done” man’s 6th career MLS appearance …
1 – own goal scored by RSL in 3/14 opener v PHI (DF Jamison Olave with the rare goal / OG double) – the club’s lone OG conceded since 2012, a span which has seen every other team give up at least two …
2 – rank all-time in MLS career starts with today’s nod for RSL GK Nick Rimando, as the netminder passes Steve Ralston – a current San Jose assistant – with his 373rd career MLS start … Rimando ranks 3rd behind Ralston (378) in career games played – a milestone the RSL “homeboy” should pass in May – and trails only Kevin Hartman (416 games / 411 starts) in both categories, as well as all-time MLS minutes played (Hartman 37,260, Rimando 33,643 entering today) …
3 – assists this season in as many games for the league-leading Javier Morales, as the RSL maestro continues to be the straw that stirs the RSL drink … along with his scintillating direct free kick for the opening goal in RSL’s home draw with Philadelphia, Morales has contributed to 4 of the club’s 5 goals this season (only a Saborio PK eludes him) …
4 – with a win or draw today, RSL would earn at least a point in its 4th consecutive visit to San Jose … RSL has earned points in 6 of its last 8 visits and 15 of the 20 since the Earthquakes re-entered MLS in 2008 … Four also marks the number of losses RSL has in new stadiums for its opponents, with an all-time 1-4-2 mark in its first game against a team moving into a new venue (the lone win? RSL’s first-ever visit to San Jose’s Buck Shaw Stadium, in Sept. 2008, a come-from-behind 3-2 win led by Yura Movsisyan and Robbie Findley) …
5 – games over .500 all-time for RSL in its 323-game MLS history, with an overall +32 goal differential, both high-water marks for the club … Since winning MLS Cup 2009, RSL is 79-44-46, outscoring opponents by 96 goals in just over 5 seasons, 251-155 …
7 – consecutive home games unbeaten against Eastern Conference teams, with RSL posting a 5-0-2 home mark and a 7-0-5 overall record against the other Conference … At Rio Tinto Stadium, RSL has outscored foes 17-7 – with a 28-14 overall goal differential … The club’s last home reg. season loss to an Eastern club was July 20, 2013, a disputed 1-2 loss to Kansas City on an Ike Opara stoppage-time goal, a span of 15 games … RSL visits Kansas City – now in the West – next week, before heading to New England on April 25 …
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: 372/372/33,653; Beckerman: 356/327/29,346) … Morales has either scored or assisted on nearly 25% of the club’s all-time 440 goals scored, with the Argentine “maestro” tallying 38 goals and 68 assists, despite missing most of 2011 …
10 – goals scored in opening 15 minutes for RSL last year, a league-leading total
13 – consecutive games unbeaten at Rio Tinto Stadium entering the club’s next home game, Sat., April 18 against Vancouver … Since June 7 of last year, RSL has outscored visitors 28-11
15 – number of current RSL season-ticket holders (in thousands), marking 75% of Rio Tinto Stadium capacity and joining Seattle, Portland, Toronto, Orlando and NYCFC at this juncture (Sporting KC is on the verge of the milestone)
16 – goals from corner kick situations since beginning of 2014 for RSL, 7 more than any other team
17– 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 116 career shutouts, 4 more than Hartman in 45 fewer games all-time
19 – consecutive sellouts at Rio Tinto Stadium, marking 21 of last 23 and 25 of club’s last 30 games to meet or exceed capacity
19 – returning players in Jeff Cassar’s locker room from last season, despite the departures of Borchers / Wingert / Grabavoy … 8 of tonight’s starting XI are familiar faces, with only Mulholland (25), Garcia (22) and Allen (0) with fewer than 50 starts in RSL history
21 – age for 6-year veteran wunderkind MF Luis Gil, now wearing the #10 shirt this season for RSL … Gil wears the Captain’s armband this year for the U.S. U-23 side as it seeks qualification later this year for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics … Gil – who had 3 assists in last week’s 5-2 U-23 win over Bosnia – has 10 goals and 8 assists, with 74 starts in 111 RSL games played since 2010
29 – number of fouls suffered a year ago by RSL DF Jamison Olave without opponent earning a yellow card, more than any other player
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 (missing today) finds the back of the net … RSL is only 21-32-23 when he plays and doesn’t score, but is 25-12-8 when he is unavailable due to suspension, injury or national team duty (Sabo started and played 60’ in CRC’s 0-0 draw last Thursday vs. Paraguay, before scoring just 6’ after entering in a 1-2 loss to Panama on Tuesday)
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
103 – Veteran RSL DF Tony Beltran has earned the start in 103 of the club’s last 121 games (entering 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 ...
110 – goal-line blocks by RSL DF Jamison Olave since 2010, the most by any player in the league over that span
132 – minutes played per goal by RSL FW Alvaro Saborio, the 2nd-best rate in MLS amongst players with 10+ goals from 2012-14 (Bradley Wright-Phillips 104, Robbie Keane 138)
624 – passes completed in the final 1/3 by RSL MF Javier Morales a year ago, more than any other player in MLS
