SALT LAKE CITY - Real Salt Lake today announced the addition of veteran MLS defender Ritchie Kotschau to the team's 28-man roster. Kotschau has played in 224 career games for the Chicago Fire, Tampa Bay Mutiny, Colorado Rapids and Columbus Crew, starting 202 and earning an MLS Cup title in 1998 with the expansion Fire.
"Ritchie is a player that brings us a great deal of depth defensively," said RSL Technical Director John Ellinger. "He's a very, very smart soccer player - there are few, if any, situations he has not been in. He's comfortable on the ball in the back and should mesh well with the personalities on our squad. We're glad to have him in the fold."
Kotschau was awarded to Salt Lake after clearing MLS waivers yesterday, several months after being selected by Toronto FC in the most recent MLS Expansion Draft. Kotschau started in 23 of the 26 games he played last season for Columbus, tallying one goal and two assists out of the back. The George Mason University product has notched 10 goals and 17 assists in his MLS career, and will wear jersey #12 for Real Salt Lake this season.
RSL (0-3-5, 5 points, T-5th West) is back in action this Saturday at 5:30 p.m. MT in Foxborough, Mass., against the New England Revolution (5-2-2, 17 points, T-1st East) at Gillette Stadium, in a game televised live nationally on HDNet and via the MLS Direct Kick subscription package on Fox Sports New England.
