HERRIMAN, Utah (Friday, January 25, 2019) – Real Monarchs SLC announced today its full 2019 preseason schedule that will see the club host the first-ever all-USL Championship tournament held at Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman, Utah. Together with Reno 1868 FC and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, the Monarchs will host the Wasatch Winter Cup ahead of the club’s fifth season in the USL Championship.
“When you travel for preseason, there are a lot of elements that are difficult to account for,” Monarchs Team Administrator Taymour Roushdi explained. “The beauty of building a facility like ours is that we are able to control of those elements. Hopefully this year we can show that we can host this event year in, and year out to maybe pioneer a tournament like this every year. It allows other USL Championship teams to play against one another to fully prepare for the top level of competition in the regular season. We’re very happy to have the opportunity to host Reno and Colorado Springs at our facility, have them stay at the dormitories on campus and eat quality meals. We have an incredible opportunity to showcase what Zions Bank Real Academy is all about.”
The Monarchs will welcome its regional rivals to Herriman for matches beginning Friday, February 15 with the tournament running through Thursday, February 21. All matches are scheduled to be played inside Zions Bank Stadium, pending inclement weather. If inclement weather occurs, matches will be played inside the Zions Bank Training Center which features over 200,000 sq. feet of playing surface.
All Wasatch Winter Cup matches will be open to the public.
“Now that we have this tremendous facility we’re incredibly excited to welcome both Reno and Colorado Springs to Herriman for this event,” General Manager Dan Egner said. “We’re thankful to Taymour for organizing what we think is a big step for this league and soccer in general. We hope to expand this even more next year and open it to even more teams.”
Preseason camp will officially commence for the Monarchs on Thursday, January 31 with training sessions being held in Herriman. In addition to matches against 1868 FC and Switchbacks FC, the Monarchs will go head-to-head with the RSL Academy on Friday, February 8 and Utah Valley University on Monday, February 18. The Monarchs will close its preseason on Saturday, March 2 at Dignity Health Sports Park against LA Galaxy II.
The full 2019 preseason schedule is as follows:
2019 Preseason
January 31 – Players Report/Training begins
February 8 – v. RSL Academy @ 9:00 a.m.
February 15 – v. Reno 1868 FC (Wasatch Winter Cup) @ 3:00 p.m.
February 18 – v. Utah Valley University @ 3:00 p.m.
February 18 – Reno v. Colorado Springs (Wasatch Winter Cup) @ 10:30 a.m.
February 21 – v. Colorado Springs (Wasatch Winter Cup) @ 11:30 a.m.
March 2 - @ LA Galaxy II
The Monarchs will begin its fifth season in the USL Championship on Saturday, March 9 at Sacramento Republic before opening the home portion of its schedule on Saturday, March 16 against El Paso Locomotive FC. All matches will be carried LIVE on ESPN+ while Real Monarchs SLC season tickets are now available and information regarding tickets can be found here: RealMonarchs.com/tickets.
The club will see ZERO Sunday home contests in 2019 with the majority of home matches being played on Saturdays with the option to move matches pending schedules from Major League Soccer and the National Women’s Soccer League to avoid match day conflicts with Real Salt Lake and Utah Royals FC.
The Monarchs will face each team in the Western Conference in a home-and-home series, with all 17 home matches held at Zions Bank Stadiumwhere the Monarchs earned a league-best 13-2-2 (41 points) record in 2018. No matches will be played against Eastern Conference opposition, with home-and-home matches against Western Conference opposition solidifying the 34-match slate.
Media members looking to attend Wasatch Winter Cup preseason matches at Zions Bank Real Academy are asked to RSVP to Real Monarchs Director of PR Taran Meyer via at tmeyer@rsl.com.
