Real Salt Lake closed its trip to Phoenix, Arizona, with a split squad scrimmage on Saturday morning against FC Arizona of the NPSL, with RSL scoring a combined eight goals in the two 60-minute scrimmages.
The scrimmage consisted of two 60-minute sessions that were split into 45- and 15-minute periods. Most of RSL’s players saw 60 minutes of action. Several hundred fans lined the fields at Reach 11 Sports Complex and even former RSL forward and Phoenix native Robbie Findley was on hand to catch RSL in action for the final day of the second leg of camp.
Early in the first half of the first matchup, Alvin Jones opened the scoring before non-rostered striker Giuseppe Rossi sent a curling free kick into the top corner roughly 10 minutes later. During the 15-minute session in the first match, Julian Vazquez added a free kick goal of his own, curling a strong shot into the roof of the net to finish the help RSL finish the first 60-minute period with a 3-0 scoreline.
The second 60 minutes saw a new lineup, but RSL didn’t stop the strong defensive play and ruthless attacking. RSL Academy striker Christopher Garcia scored shortly after kickoff before Tate Schmitt’s scissor-kick from inside the penalty area found the back of the net minutes later. RSL continued to pressure FC Arizona for the remainder of the afternoon and found two goals from rookie Milan Iloski and another from Pablo Ruiz to cap the 120-minute scrimmage.
Lineup designations from RSL v FCA are listed below.
Non-rostered player
Real Monarchs player
^Draft pick
#RSL Academy
First Half Lineup: Zac MacMath (David Ochoa); Alvin Jones, Marcelo Silva, Erik Holt, Donny Toia; Nick Besler, Everton Luiz; Julian Vazquez, Luis Arriaga, ^Dayonn Harris; Giuseppe Rossi (#Bode Davis)
Second Half Lineup: David Ochoa (Andrew Putna); Aaron Herrera, Nedum Onuoha, Taylor Peay, Ashtone Morgan; Kyle Beckerman, Justin Portillo; #Christopher Garcia (*Luke Mulholland), Pablo Ruiz, Tate Schmitt; Milan Iloski
RSL will now return to Utah for a 10-day stretch where it will train at Zions Bank Training Center before departing for a nearly two-week stint in Tucson. The club will open the 2020 regular season on Saturday, February 29 at Orlando City SC.
