Real Salt Lake General Manager Garth Lagerwey announced Monday the team's 2009 preseason schedule, with RSL scheduled to make a pair of domestic trips to California and Florida in February before embarking on the club's first-ever participation in the Carolina Challenge Cup in early March. Real Salt Lake will kick off its preseason with fitness testing and the team's 2009 Media Day at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy this Friday, January 30, a full two months prior to the squad taking on the defending MLS Cup Champion Columbus Crew at Rio Tinto Stadium on Thursday, April 2, in the team's 2009 home opener.
Real Salt Lake embarks on the first leg of the preseason, a 12-day trip to the Southern California cities of Oxnard and Ventura, from Feb. 2-14. While training and fitness will be the primary focus of the first leg, RSL plans on taking part in three scrimmages during its SoCal stay, with matches against a domestic PDL side, a Chinese team and an NCAA Division I squad.
Real Salt Lake returns to the Wasatch Front for a three-day stopover before departing on Feb.18, for Central Florida, where the squad will spend 10 days in the Tampa area from Feb. 18-28. RSL will play two or three contests while in the Sunshine State, with opponents for those exhibitions yet to be finalized on the campuses of the University of South Florida and the University of Tampa.
After another brief layover in Utah, Real Salt Lake will join MLS clubs D.C. United and Toronto FC in Charleston, SC for the sixth-annual Carolina Challenge Cup, hosted by USL-1 side Charleston Battery. The Battery's Blackbaud Stadium home in picturesque Charleston has become a preseason mecca for MLS teams in recent years. RSL will play three games in the round-robin CCC competition; Saturday, March 7 vs. D.C. United (3:00 p.m. MT); Wednesday, March 11 vs. Charleston Battery (5:15 p.m. MT) and Saturday, March 14 vs. Toronto FC (3:00 p.m. MT).
After arriving back from Charleston on March 15, Real Salt Lake will spend the first week of the 2009 MLS regular season on a bye as the other 14 squads enjoy First Kick 2009, starting with the Thursday, March 19, debut of Major League Soccer's 15th team, Seattle Sounders FC. Real Salt Lake, fresh off its trip to the 2008 Western Conference Final, kicks off its fifth MLS season on the road on Saturday, March 28, against an opponent TBD.
Lagerwey and Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jason Kreis return from a South American scouting trip Thursday to welcome the players to Utah. Attached please find the team's current preseason roster, including those non-roster invitees who will join the team with hopes of securing a spot on either the 18-to-20-man senior roster or capture one of four available developmental slots.
2009 REAL SALT LAKE PRESEASON SCHEDULE
• Thurs., Jan. 29: Players report to Utah for entrance physicals / fitness testing
• Fri., Jan. 30: Media Day at Rio Tinto Stadium - 1:00 - 6:00 p.m. MT
• Jan. 30-31: Training in Utah (sites/times TBD)
• Feb. 2-14: Preseason Trip #1 to Oxnard/Ventura, Calif.
<br>• Sun., Feb. 8 - RSL vs. Ventura County Fusion - 8:00 p.m. MT
<br>• Fri., Feb. 13 - RSL vs. Shandong Luneng Taishan (China) - 5:00 p.m. MT
<br>• Sat., Feb. 14 - RSL vs. UCSB or CSU-SLO - 11:00 a.m. MT
• Feb. 15-17: Training in Utah (sites/times TBD)
• Feb. 18-28: Preseason Trip #2 to Tampa, Fla.
<br>• Sat., Feb. 21 - RSL vs. opp. TBD @ Univ. of South Florida - 5:00 p.m. MT
<br>• Tues., Feb. 24 - RSL vs. opp. TBD @ Univ. of Tampa - 5:00 p.m. MT
• March 1-3: Training in Utah (sites/times TBD)
• March 4-15: Preseason Trip #3 to Charleston, So. Car. - Carolina Challenge Cup
<br>• Sat., March 7 - RSL vs. D.C. United - 3:00 p.m. MT
<br>• Wed., March 11 - RSL vs. Charleston - 5:15 p.m. MT
<br>• Sat., March 14 - RSL vs. Toronto FC - 3:00 p.m. MT
• Saturday, March 21: Exhibition contest - Opponent/Site TBD
• Saturday, March 28: RSL @ opponent TBD
• Thursday, April 2: MLS First Kick 2009 - RSL vs. Columbus Crew, live on ESPN2
