Real Salt Lake’s 2018 season took its first steps at the brand-new Zions Bank Real Academy facility in Herriman as players reported for training camp on Monday. The players are slated to undergo physical testing on the first day as the Claret-and-Cobalt looks to make a return to the postseason for the ninth time in the last 11 seasons.
After posting an 8-3-4 record over the final 15 matches of the season, Real Salt Lake was among the top teams in Major League Soccer after July 4. Several key pieces return from that team as Head Coach Mike Petke oversees his first training camp at the helm.
Captain Kyle Beckerman returns for his 12th season with Real Salt Lake, surrounded by a slew of rising talents and veteran mainstays. That group includes the club’s 2017 MVP and Golden Boot winning playmaker Albert Rusnák along with imposing center back Marcelo Silva and dynamic winger Jefferson Savarino, who all joined the squad in 2017 and made big impacts in their first MLS seasons. The addition of forward Alfredo Ortuno bolsters an attack that saw four players score seven goals last season (Rusnák, Yura Movsisyan, Joao Plata and Luis Silva).
Additional veteran returnees include defenders Demar Phillips and David Horst, midfielders Luke Mulholland and Sunday Stephen, along with Homegrown talents Sebastian Saucedo, Jose Hernandez and Jordan Allen. 2017 USL Regular Season Championship Shield winners in goalkeeper Connor Sparrow, defender Taylor Peay and midfielder Nick Besler also earned first-team contracts over the last seven months.
The club continued to dip into its ever-expanding list of Academy products who have gone on to professional contracts with the additions of 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup DF Aaron Herrera and three-time NCAA champion FW Corey Baird. In addition, the back line added Americans with European experience in Adam Henley and Shawn Berry to a veteran core.
Now with another season under their belt, the young trio of Academy products like defender Justen Glad, defender Danny Acosta and forward Brooks Lennon will miss the start of training camp while away with the U.S. National Team’s January camp in Carson, California. They are scheduled to join the club in Tucson for the second leg of camp.
It’s a long 10-and-a-half months until MLS Cup, but the squad chemistry that is so vital to reaching the league’s pinnacle are formed during training camp. It’s going to be a long journey for every team in MLS, but if the atmosphere of the first day is any indication, Real Salt Lake will enjoy that journey to the end after getting started at the new facility.
