SALT LAKE CITY - Real Salt Lake (5-13-4, 19 pts., 5th West) resumes training at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Tuesday, August 16 at 10:00 a.m. MT in preparation for Saturday's game against the Western Conference-leading San Jose Earthquakes (10-4-8, 38 pts., 1st West) at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. MT and will be televised live nationally on HDNet.
During Week Five, RSL added one of its 19 points in a 2-2 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes on April 30. In the 21st minute, trailing 0-1, FW Jason Kreis added career goal No. 93 when he slid a penalty kick past San Jose goalkeeper Pat Onstad. Just 13 minutes later, MF Clint Mathis intercepted a pass in the midfield, which opened up a two-on-one attack for Mathis and Kreis. Mathis found Kreis on the left, and the League's All-Time leading scorer blasted it past Onstad in the 34th minute.
At that point Real was in control of the match, eagerly anticipating the addition of three points to its early-season record when Earthquakes MF Brian Mullan sent a long cross in the 82nd minute over the RSL defense to FW Alejandro Moreno, whose header provided the late equalizer for San Jose. In the disappointing 2-2 draw, RSL GK DJ Countess recorded 13 saves, just two shy of Tony Meola's single-game league-record of 15, set on April 5, 1997 against D.C. United.
Just seven weeks later, RSL suffered a 3-0 loss to the Earthquakes at Spartan Stadium on June 18. In the 2nd minute, San Jose midfielders Brad Davis and Dwayne De Rosario executed a give-and-go along the left sideline, resulting in a Davis cross that was hammered into the net on a first-time shot by MF Mark Chung.
San Jose quickly scored its second goal when newly acquired DF Kelly Gray scored in his San Jose debut to make it 2-0. Gray played the ball along the right sideline to FW Ronald Cerritos, who held the ball as the right back continued his run upfield. Cerritos played a through ball to Gray, whose right-footed blast found the lower left corner from a tight angle in the 13th minute.
The Earthquakes scored its third goal of the opening stanza when DF Wade Barrett came up from his left back spot to work a combination with Cerritos, resulting in a left-footed cross by Cerritos back to Barrett, who met the ball with a lunging volley from five yards out.
KREIS' HISTORIC 100TH (AND 99TH) SIERRA MIST GOAL OF THE WEEK NOMINEES: RSL FW Jason Kreis has two goals up for nomination as Sierra Mist Goal of the Week for Week 19, including his century-mark rocket against Kansas City from Saturday. In the game's 72nd-minute, the League's All-Time Goal-scoring leader collected a header from FW Dante Washington in the top corner of the box and rocked a left-footed half-volley into the upper 90. The bending kick, previously unavailable on video, can be viewed by logging on www.RealSaltLake.com.
U.S. SOCCER FOUNDATION PASSBACK A SUCCESS: Prior to the Real Salt Lake-Kansas City Wizards game on Saturday, fans were invited to donate new or used soccer gear and equipment to the U.S. Soccer Foundation's Passback program. More than 400 items were collected, which will be donated to local teams and organizations in the Utah community. Donations will be accepted throughout the remainder of season at Rice-Eccles Stadium at Gate A (Carnival Real, South End) and Gate D (Main Entrance, West Side) preceding all games and at the Real Salt Lake office located at 515 South 700 East, Suite 2R, in Salt Lake City.
WEST HIGH SCHOOL HOME TO SLC SCHOOL DISTRICT TICKET DRIVE: Real Salt Lake and the Salt Lake City District, invite the Utah community to volunteer for the "Welcome Back to School" ticket/attendance program tomorrow, August 16, at 8:00 a.m. MT at West High School in Salt Lake City (300 West 200 North). Volunteers will be stuffing goody bags, and pizza and soda will be served courtesy of the Wasatch Valley Pizza and the area Pizza Huts. Volunteer times are as follows:
DAY/DATE TIME (MT)
Tuesday, August 16 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, August 17 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, August 18 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
"We are proud to be a partner with Real Salt Lake and the Salt Lake City School District in its effort to honor students who attended the first day of school by providing pizza and soda for the three-day stuffing party at West High School," said Director of Operations for Wasatch Valley Pizza and the area Pizza Huts Denny Hasiak. "This is another community education program to complement our long-standing 'Book It' reading contest."</p>
The "Welcome Back to School!" ticket/attendance program is the first step of many between the two entities, as RSL players will appear in the remaining 30 school campuses on Wednesday, August 24 in support of the program. The Sierra Mist "Dribble, Pass and Score" competition - Major League Soccer's free youth skills contest - will be installed in the physical education curricula of each school, while RSL players will make regular visits to various age groups and discuss a variety of topics throughout the fall on an education/teamwork tour.</p>
1280 THE ZONE TO AIR HARBOUR VIEW EXHIBITION GAME: Real Salt Lake's flagship English-radio partner, 1280 AM The Zone, has tagged the Harbour View exhibition as a $12.80 ticket night for P-1 listeners. The specially-priced $12.80 tickets will be available at all 1280 remotes leading up to the games, at various appearances by the Zone Girls and the RSL Street Team, at the 1280 AM and RSL offices, and on www.1280thezone.com and www.RealSaltLake.com.
TRAINING SCHEDULE FOR WEEK OF August 15, 2005:
**All practices are open to Media members. All times and locations are subject to change.
DAY/DATE SITE TIME (MT)
Tuesday, August 16 Rice-Eccles Stadium 10:00 a.m.
Wednesday, August 17 Rice-Eccles Stadium 10:00 a.m.
Thursday, August 18 Rice-Eccles Stadium 10:00 a.m.
Friday, August 19 Rice-Eccles Stadium 10:00 a.m.
Saturday, August 20 GAME vs. San Jose Earthquakes 7:30 p.m.
Rice-Eccles Stadium
RSL INJURY REPORT:
PLAYER STATUS INJURY
DF Eddie Pope PROBABLE L ankle sprain
DF Gustavo Cabrera PROBABLE L knee sprain
¡FUTBOLITO! COMING TO SLC: MLS ¡Futbolito!, the official 4v4 tournament of Major League Soccer arrives to Utah on Saturday, September 17, at Fairmont Park in Salt Lake City (2361 South 900 East). There are three divisions: Premier Adult, Adult Recreational and Youth age groups from Under-8 to Under-17. Each participant will receive one ticket to a Real Salt Lake game, an authentic MLS ¡Futbolito! t-shirt and the opportunity to win Panasonic and/or RadioShack prizes. There will be prize money given away to the first and second place teams in the Premier Adult division with the winners receiving $2,000 and the runner-ups receiving $1,000. Advanced registration ends on Wednesday, September 14. To register and for more information, call (866) 965.7484, log onto www.mlsfutbolito.com or email info@MLSFutbolito.com.
JOIN THE JUNIOR LOYALISTS: RSL invites local youth fans ages 14 and under to join the RSL Kids Club, known as the Chevron Junior Loyalists! The next replica giveaway will be on Saturday, Sept. 3 where registered Jr. Loyalist members will receive a FREE replica Real Salt Lake soccer ball! Kids 14 and under can sign-up to be a Jr. Loyalist at more than 90 participating Chevron locations along the Wasatch Front. The New England Revolution game represents the fourth of five Junior Loyalist "build-a-uniform" dates, with the other RSL memorabilia nights as follows:
DAY/DATE OPPONENT GIVEAWAY
Saturday, Sept. 3 New England Revolution RSL soccer ball
Saturday, Sept. 24 Columbus Crew RSL uniform bag
Pick up a registration form at any of the more than 90 Wasatch Front Chevron locations!
SINGLE-GAME TICKETS ON SALE: Real Salt Lake single-game tickets for its inaugural 2005 season at Rice-Eccles Stadium continue to be on sale both online and at the University of Utah Ticket Office, located at the Stadium's south end. Individual game prices are $14 for north goal, $18 for corner flag, $25 for premier east and $32 for VIP west. Individual game tickets can be purchased by visiting the Utah Ticket Office at 451 South 1400 East, by logging onto www.utahtickets.com or by contacting the Ticket Office at (801) 581-UTIX. Fans are continued to be encouraged to purchase in advance.
ACCESS REAL: Real fans can now receive up-to-date information on the team by signing up for the RSL Weekly Newsletter at the fans section of RealSaltLake.com.
