SANDY, Utah (Friday, August 25, 2017) – Real Salt Lake (9-13-5, 32 points, West #8) continues this week’s two-game homestand with an 8:00 p.m. MT Saturday night kickoff against rival Colorado Rapids at Rio Tinto Stadium. RSL defeated Colorado back on April 15 in suburban Denver, a comeback 2-1 win featuring goals from FW Yura Movsisyan and FW Brooks Lennon, meaning that a home victory Saturday would give RSL the fan-created Rocky Mountain Cup bragging rights for the ninth time in 11 seasons.
RSL boasts an all-time 8-0-4 mark against the Rapids at Rio Tinto Stadium, part of an all-time 11-5-5 home mark in Rocky Mountain Cup play across MLS reg. season and U.S. Open Cup qualifying action. Since RSL moved to its Sandy home for its first full season in 2009, it has outscored the Rapids 21-6 at Rio Tinto Stadium, with six clean sheets against Colorado.
RSL saw four goals Wednesday from four different scorers to improve the club to 9-10-3 since April 8 in its new era under Head Coach Mike Petke. The 4-0 home win was RSL’s first in 67 MLS reg. season games at Rio Tinto Stadium, dating back to late August, 2013, against Columbus. The Claret-and-Cobalt’s last home win by a four-goal margin came in September, 2014, in a nationally-televised 5-1 victory over Colorado.
RSL enters Saturday hoping to ride the momentum created in Wednesday’s dominant 4-0 home win over San Jose, which stands just one point ahead of the Utah side in the chase to move above the red line in the Western Conference playoff race. RSL enters the weekend just three points behind Vancouver – its next opponent on September 9 at B.C. Place – while the Whitecaps travel to Orlando Saturday.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake v. Colorado Rapids – Sat., August 26, 2017
- Coverage Begins: 7:30 p.m. MT
- Local TV: KMYU – David James and Brian Dunseth
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (7:00 p.m. MT) – Bill Riley & Jay Nolly
w/ Jeremy Horton & Spencer Warne (pre-/post-game)
- Spanish Radio: 102.3 La Gran D FM / 1600 AM – Nelson Moran & Fernando Hortal
- Online: The @RSLmatchday Twitter feed provides updates
Game Notes for Saturday’s RSL v. Colorado game Available Online
The link to the Adobe PDF version of the Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Colorado Rapids is available HERE. If you have any problems obtaining the document, would prefer to receive it as an attachment, or are seeking more information on the match, please contact Matt Gaschk in the RSL Communications Department via email at mgaschk@RSL.com.
Legendary RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando notched the 100th regular-season clean sheet in his RSL career Wednesday, which also marked his 300th nters the week – which also includes the second leg of the 2017 Rocky Mountain Cup series against Colorado Rapids on Saturday – one start away from his 300th regular-season appearance for RSL, and one clean sheet away from the 100th RSL shutout of his career.
Elsewhere in the RSL pyramid, the scintillating 2017 Real Monarchs / USL season continues Friday night at home against Rio Grande Valley, as Head Coach Mark Briggs’ USL pacesetters – with a 16-3-4 mark and a league-leading 52 points – look to widen their lead atop both the West and the overall USL lead, as the club is 10 clear of second-place San Antonio and 8 ahead of East leader Charlotte.
The third-year Monarchs claim the league’s top goal differential, +24 with 48 goals scored and 24 allowed in just 23 games, occupying first place overall in the USL with 9 games remaining to secure the No. 1 overall seed in the USL Cup Playoffs. Briggs’ side sits just six wins, 18 points and 14 goals away from establishing new single-season records for the Division II league.
The Monarchs return to the “RioT” for Friday’s 7:00 p.m. MT kickoff with sights set on extending its 12-game unbeaten home streak dating back to last year. Briggs’ side is 10-0-1 at home so far in 2017, as FW Chandler Hoffman now ranks 2nd overall in the USL Golden Boot race with 14 goals, MF Charlie Adams 2nd overall with 7 assists and GK Connor Sparrow earning last week’s USL Team of the Week honors with his ninth win, fifth clean sheet and denial of all five penalty kicks faced to lead the Monarchs. The Rio Tinto Stadium box office is open Mon.-Fri., 10a-6p; more information can be found online at www.RSL.com/Tickets. Current or interested RSL Royalty Season Ticket Members can purchase extra tickets at preferred pricing or gain assistance via the Fan Relations Hotline at 801-727-2702.
Opening in part later this week, the Zions Bank Real Academy training campus arrives in Herriman, Utah, approximately 20 minutes southwest of Rio Tinto Stadium. The $72 million facility, which saw the first of five grass “TORO Fields” sodded in recent weeks – will serve as the daily training home beginning in 2018 for both of the club's professional teams – RSL (MLS) and Real Monarchs (USL) – while centralizing the club's U-18, U-16 and future U-14 development academy youth selections under the guidance of Academy Director Martin Vasquez.
The Herriman facility will provide adjacencies for an on-site charter school which opened this morning, with STEM disciplines (Science/Technology/Engineering/Math) for nearly 300 boys and girls. Thursday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. MT, RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen, Head Coach Mike Petke, General Manager Craig Waibel, Monarchs Head Coach Mark Briggs, Academy Director Martin Vasquez and Zions Bank Real Academy Principal Grant Stock celebrate the school's opening day, welcoming 200+ students into a new era for both sports and education in Utah.
Late last year in North Logan, Utah, RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen broke ground on the first of a half-dozen regional training centers across Utah and Arizona to be built in the next 2-3 years. Each $5 million RTC houses a classroom, as well as an indoor and outdoor field, dedicated to fulfilling a curriculum consistent with the club's vision and mission for youth soccer training and education, and the continued development of both recreational and competitive pre-Academy (ages 7-12) initiatives across Utah and Arizona.
