REAL SALT LAKE WEEKLY UPDATE
Mon. – Sun., Jan. 8 - Jan. 14, 2018
SANDY, Utah (Monday, January 8, 2017) – The Real Salt Lake pyramid enters the new year with several key announcements involving teams from every branch of the club as RSL and Utah Royals FC have spent the first week of the new year making additions ahead of the upcoming season. The Academy continues its break for the holiday season but prepares for its Jan. 20 match against Santa Cruz Breakers.
Real Salt Lake
The Real Salt Lake trio of DF Danilo Acosta, DF Justen Glad and FW Brooks Lennon all received their first senior national team calls when they will join 30 players called in by U.S. National Team Head Coach Dave Sarachan for January camp, which opens January 10 in Carson, California. The U.S. will play a friendly against Bosnia & Herzegovina on January 28 (7:30 p.m. MT, FS1) at the StubHub Center to conclude the camp.
Real Salt Lake General Manager Craig Waibel announced on Wednesday that the club has signed FW Alfredo Ortuño ahead of the 2018 season.
Ortuño, 26, already has a lengthy career in Spain’s first and second divisions, most recently playing with Cádiz CF in La Liga 2, where he scored 17 goals in 40 appearances in the 2016/17 season. Since making his professional debut with Albacete in the Spanish second division at just 17 years old in 2008, he has netted 41 goals in 141 matches at that level. That included stops with Albacete, Lorca FC, Girona, Las Palmas, Zaragoza, Mallorca and Cádiz in the second division and a stint with Granada in La Liga.
Last Thursday together with Major League Soccer, RSL announced its 2018 schedule which features a 17-game home calendar with hot-blooded rivalries for the club's annual Fireworks games to celebrate Independence Day (Wednesday, July 4 v. Sporting Kansas City) and Pioneer Day (Saturday, July 21 against Colorado Rapids). Back-to-back home games in mid-March highlight the early-season portion of 2018, with expansion LAFC arriving on Sat., March 10 at 1:30 p.m. MT in a nationally-televised home opener followed up by RSL Head Coach Mike Petke – now entering his first full season – welcoming his former club, the New York Red Bulls, on Saturday, March 17 in a St. Patrick’s Day celebration at Rio Tinto Stadium. RSL’s full schedule can be viewed here: www.RSL.com/schedule.
Important dates on the Major League Soccer calendar are as follows:
Jan. 11-17 – 2018 MLS Combine at Orlando City Stadium – The league will hold its annual combine with representatives from all 23 MLS clubs scouting the top college prospects ahead of the Jan. 19 MLS SuperDraft in Philadelphia.
Jan. 19 – 2018 MLS SuperDraft – The draft will be held during the United Soccer Coaches Convention at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.
Utah Royals
On Jan. 3 Utah Royals FC signed international goal scorer and MF Gunnhildur “Gunny” Jonsdottir to the first-year squad.
Jonsdottir's success with Iceland is expected to contribute to the seasoned roster of fellow Women’s World Cup participants on Utah Royals FC. As one of the top goalscorers in Iceland WNT history, and with 48 caps under her belt, Jonsdottir provides an energy and instinct for goal that complements the playing style of Royals FC boss Harvey.
Like recent Utah Royal FC commits Kelly O'Hara and Becky Sauerbrunn, Jonsdottir holds a national championship, winning the 2012 Iceland Women's Cup while starting for Stjarnan FC. She also was a member of the Norway Toppserien league's 2017 runner-up, Valerenga FC, reaching nearly 2,000 minutes, 21 games and five career goals in a single season.
The NWSL Draft will be held on Jan. 18 as a part of the United Soccer Coaches Convention at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Utah Royals FC currently hold the 14th pick in the second round of the draft.
Utah Royals FC season tickets are now on sale to the general public and fans can call 844.REAL.TIX now to claim their seats.
Real Monarchs
On Dec. 14 Real Monarchs Assistant General Manager Dan Egner announced the latest signing to the Monarchs family as centerback Konrad Plewa became the latest addition to the Monarchs family.
The 25-year-old Plewa comes to the Monarchs for his fourth season in the United Soccer League after spending last season with Saint Louis FC in the USL’s Eastern Conference, where he scored one goal in 1755 total minutes while featuring in 20 matches – 19 of which were starts. Standing at 6’3” Plewa will provide another piece to an already staunch Real Monarchs defense, that only conceded 31 goals in 32 regular season matches in 2017.
With the addition of Plewa, the Monarchs roster ahead of the 2018 season stands as follows:
Goalkeepers: (1) Andrew Putna
Defenders: (4) Michael Gallagher, James Moberg, David Diosa, Konrad Plewa
Midfielders: (7) Danny Cruz, Charlie Adams, Karsten Hanlin, Sebastian Velasquez, Andrew Brody, Justin Portillo, Maikel Chang
Forwards: (2) Chandler Hoffman, Juan Mare
Real Salt Lake Academy
U.S. Youth Soccer Technical Director Tab Ramos named 153 players to its respective U-16, U-17, U-18, U-19 and U-20 rosters on Friday for the Youth National Team Summit Camp in Lakewood Ranch, Florida running from January 2-11. Within the players named to the Summit are Real Salt Lake Academy members David Ochoa, Sebastian Soto, Taylor Booth, Richard Ledezma, Glademir Mendoza and Zachary Farnsworth were called into camp. The Summit Camp will be the first of its kind as the leadership in U.S. Soccer integrates players and coaches at all levels as the Federation continues to cultivate a world-class soccer product.
A member of the U-19s, Soto currently stands as the leader in the “Golden Boot” race on the U-19 U.S. Soccer Development Academy scoring charts with 23 goals in just 12 matches. Soto has scored six goals in his last four matches.
The U-17s currently sit in second place in the league’s Southwest Division with a 7-2-3 record (24 points). The U-19 group also sits in second place in the league’s Southwest Division and after its first draw of the season, carries with it a 9-2-1 (27 points) record.
Currently in a lengthy break for the holiday season, the Academy sides will look ahead to a matchup with the Santa Cruz Breakers Academy on January 20 at the Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman. The U-17s will open proceedings after the holiday break at 11:00 a.m. MT with the U-19s following at 1:30 p.m. MT. The Academy’s full match schedule can be viewed here: rsla.ussoccerda.com.
The Academy training schedule for the week of Jan. 8-12 is as follows:
Monday Jan. 8: 7:00a – 9:00a MT – Zions Bank Real Academy
Tuesday Jan. 9: 7:00a – 9:00a MT – Zions Bank Real Academy
Wednesday Jan. 10: 7:00a – 9:00a MT – Zions Bank Real Academy
Thursday Jan. 11: 7:00a – 9:00a MT – Zions Bank Real Academy
Friday Jan. 12: 7:30a – 9:30a MT – Zions Bank Real Academy
The rest of the Real Salt Lake Academy schedule can be found at RSL.com/Academy as well as any other information regarding the Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman.If you plan on attending a training session / game and requesting access, please contact RSL Media Services personnel Taran Meyer at (801) 657-2161 / tmeyer@rsl.com a day in advance for arrangements.
The Zions Bank Real Academy Campus in Herriman - located at 14788 South Academy Parkway (3718 West) - MUST be entered off of Mountain View Corridor, just West of the Facility
