PREGAME FACTS AND INFO SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE v. HOUSTON DYNAMO
SAT., JULY 18, 2015 – 8:00 pm MT
on KMYU, ESPN700 & 102.3 LaGranD
1 – previous appearance in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinals by Utah teams in the 101 previous iterations of the tourney, accomplished by Real Salt Lake back in 2013 during the club’s run to the Final … RSL has advanced to the previous stage, the Quarterfinals, in 2006, 2011, 2013 and now 2015 …
2 – road losses in June/July, as RSL defends its Rio Tinto Stadium fortress for 9 home games in 11 total matches (8 MLS games, 3 U.S. Open Cup) from June 7 through July 24 … A 9-man RSL lost at New York Red Bulls on June 24, 0-1, while RSL dropped a 1-3 decision last Saturday in Colorado, despite a 1-0 lead in the 80th minute … At home in this stretch, RSL is 4-0-3, with three of the four wins coming in U.S. Open Cup play and the lone MLS win coming back on June 21 against Kansas City – this Friday’s opponent (July 24, Pioneer Day, 9p MT) …
4 – previous starts for RSL DF Justen Glad prior to his 5th tonight, as DF Chris Schuler is taking a precautionary rest after back-to-back starts Saturday and Tuesday against Colorado and Los Angeles …
5 – goals in last 7 games on the trot for RSL FW Sebastian Jaime, including strikes in 4 consecutive home matches, a streak snapped in Tuesday’s Open Cup match … Jaime scored his first-ever MLS road goal last Saturday in Colorado, giving RSL a brief 1-0 lead over the rival Rapids prior to a set-piece equalizer conceded to Jaime’s mark, Drew Moor, who then baited the formerly Chilean-based Argentine into a red card ejection minutes later … prior to the stoppage-time game-winner and empty-net goals for a final 3-1 margin …
6 – starts this year in 23 games for RSL #swissarmyknife Jordan Allen, including tonight, his first since May 16 at Montreal … After departing straight from that match for the FIFA U-20 World Championships in New Zealand, Allen has seen 4 appearances off the bench since his return from his USA inclusion … Tonight will mark Allen’s first-ever U.S. Open Cup minutes …
7 – red cards for RSL in its first 20 MLS matches this season, as the June 24th 0-1 loss at NYRB saw both Javier Morales and Demar Phillips sent off on either side of halftime … That marked the 4th time in 398 MLS regular-season, playoff, Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League play that RSL was reduced to 9 men … The first time RSL fell down to nine was on Feb. 22, 2011 in a CCL game at Columbus, a 0-0 draw on a 22-degree frozen field, as both DF Tony Beltran and DF Nat Borchers were ejected, as was Crew FW Renteria … That match marked the 2nd time in 2015 RSL fell victim to a pair of reds, as both DF Jamison Olave and FW Sebastian Saucedo were tossed in an 0-1 home loss on April 18 to Vancouver … Olave and FW Fabian Espindola were each ejected in an April, 2011 loss at San Jose … RSL’s team record of 7 red cards was set in 2009, 2011 and 2013, and now matched in 2015, as odd-numbered years have the Claret-and-Cobalt seeing red …
7 – consecutive playoff berths for RSL from 2008-14 (the longest active run in MLS), during which time the club has averaged 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 …
10 – appearances during the group stage for RSL players in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, as Captain Kyle Beckerman (USA), GK Nick Rimando (USA), all-time leading scorer Alvaro Saborio (CRC), centerback Elias Vasquez (GUA) and left back Demar Phillips (JAM) are missing, the group totaling 66 starts for the Claret-and-Cobalt this season …
11 – the number of current RSL players potentially involved in national team call-ups this summer, as MF Jordan Allen (U.S. U-20 at FIFA Youth World Championship), DF Boyd Okwuonu (U.S. U-23s at Toulon tournament), MF Luis Gil (U.S. U-23s + full U.S. national team), GK Nick Rimando & MF Kyle Beckerman (full U.S. national team), FW Alvaro Saborio (Costa Rica), DF Abdoulie Mansally (The Gambia), DF Demar Phillips (Jamaica), DF Elias Vasquez (Guatemala), DF Justen Glad (U.S. U-18s) and FW Sebastian Saucedo (U.S. U-18s) all could disappear for one or more games at a time …
20 – jersey number worn in 2015 by RSL’s newest player, M/F Luis Silva, acquired Thursday from D.C. United in exchange for Costa Rican international Alvaro Saborio … Silva has 20 goals in 98 career MLS matches for Toronto (2012-13), where he played alongside Joao Plata and Aaron Maund, and D.C. United (2013-15), with whom he won the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final at Rio Tinto Stadium …
26 – all-time PK denials by RSL GK Nick Rimando, who went 3-for-5 against opponents in his last eight games – denying Rapids MF Dillon Powers on June 7 to preserve a home point … Opposing PK takers have seen their conversion rates now drop to 43-for-70 against Rimando all-time, including 22-for-40 with Nick in an RSL uniform … Amazingly, Rimando has stopped 9 of the last 13 PKs faced and 11 of the last 17 … #WalloftheWasatch indeed …
59 – number of players in RSL’s 11-year, 125-player history to have scored at least one MLS goal for the Claret-and-Cobalt, now that FW Sebastian Jaime opened his MLS account June 21 against Kansas City … who will be #60, and will it happen tonight against Houston? …
92 – home wins since 2008, as RSL has amassed a 92-19-39 mark on home soil in all competitions in its last 150 home matches, during which it has outscored opponents by 161 goals (271-110) … RSL enters tonight against Houston with a 73-14-36 record in MLS reg. season games (222-91 goals), and a 6-1-1 CCL mark (17-5), 5-2-2 playoffs (11-4), 8-2-0 mark in Open Cup (21-10) …
125 – players to have appeared in an MLS game for RSL in 11 seasons, as Jeff Cassar has given several players – Justen Glad, Phanuel Kavita, Boyd Okwuonu, Elias Vasquez, Demar Phillips, Sebastian Saucedo & Pecka – opportunities this season … 2nd-round draft pick Okwuonu got his first-ever MLS start Saturday, after making his debut 3 weeks ago in the final minutes against Columbus … 27 players have seen league minutes this year, meaning everyone on the roster except GK Lalo Fernandez (MF Fito Ovalle is on a season-long loan to the USL Monarchs) have seen MLS time …
200 – career MLS appearances for RSL #maestro Javier Morales with tonight’s start against Houston, as the 9th-year player looks to repeat his hat-trick performance from last May against the Dynamo in Texas …
430 – minutes trailing by RSL this season in MLS play, after staring up at an opposing lead for only 300 minutes in the entirety of 2014 … A year ago, RSL had 10 goals scored in the first 15 minutes of play, compared to just one this season …
1,334 – club-high U.S. Open Cup minutes played by veteran RSL DF Tony Beltran, whose 15 games played and 13 starts in the tourney also lead RSL’s all-time … Beltran was named Saturday to the 2015 at&t MLS All Star Game in Denver, joining GK Nick Rimando from RSL among the MLSers to face Tottenham on July 29 …
7,500+ – air miles zig-zagging across the continent the first week of August for RSL, as the club plays at D.C. United on August 1, then goes midweek to Guatemala City to open CONCACAF Champions League play, finishing the week in Vancouver on August 8 … Should RSL advance on Tuesday in the Open Cup Quarterfinal, the club will then head to either Houston or Kansas City on August 11/12 prior to home games against Portland and Seattle on August 15/22, pushing the mileage total to nearly 10,000 …
$250,000 – prize money granted by U.S. Soccer to the winning team in the Open Cup, the 17 American-based MLS sides requiring five wins to earn that cash as well as a berth in the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League …
