SALT LAKE CITY - Real Salt Lake (3-6-2, 11 points, 5th West) hits the road for the second consecutive week to face the Houston Dynamo (5-3-3, 18 points, 2nd West) this Saturday (7:00 MST, KSL TV) at Robertson Stadium. RSL will be looking to avenge a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Dynamo in Houston on April 22nd. During the contest, RSL struck first and took a 1-0 lead on FW Jeff Cunningham's first goal of the season in the 57th minute, but the lead was short lived as Houston DF Craig Waibel headed home a corner in the games 60th minute for the game's equalizer. Both sides traded decent chances until the 84th minute when Houston MF Dwayne De Rosario broke through the RSL defense and put home the game winner past RSL GK Scott Garlick. Houston comes into the contest on the heels of a 1-1 tie against the New York Red Bulls and currently reside in second place in the Western Conference standings.
RSL'S Four-Game Unbeaten Streak Comes to an End: Real Salt Lake saw its franchise record four-game unbeaten streak come to an end at the hands of the Colorado Rapids on Saturday in a 1-0 loss that dropped RSL to 5th place in the Western Conference standings. The game's only goal came mere minutes after RSL DF Danny Torres was forced to leave the field with a mild concussion. Colorado was able to capitalize on a miscue from the RSL Backline as Nicolas Hernandez found himself unmarked in front of Real's goal and knocked home the game winner in the contest's 16th minute. Following the goal, Colorado was content to drop back and play defensive soccer the rest of the way. Despite a few solid chances, Real Salt Lake was unable to put anything past Colorado GK Joe Cannon who made five saves to capture the clean sheet. With the loss, RSL drops to 5th place in the Western Conference standings and the Rapids extended their lead over Real to four points. Colorado also took an early three point lead in the battle for the "Rocky Mountain Cup."
Torres, Garlick PROBable: RSL DF Danny Torres is expected to recover from his concussion in time to take the field against the Dynamo on Saturday, but is still hampered by the left popliteal ligament behind his knee. RSL GK Scott Garlick is recovering well from a pulled lower back muscle suffered Friday in Colorado, while kicking the ball downfield against the Rapids in the 34th minute. Although he was able to fight through the pain and finish the half, the injury forced Garlick to sit during the second half, the only action he has missed all season. RSL backup GK Jay Nolly came on and didn't allow a goal during his first 45 minutes of action this season.
POPE AVAILABLE ACCORDING TO ARENA - US defender Eddie Pope's injured hand should not affect his status for the remaining two World Cup matches according to head coach Bruce Arena. "I don't think it's anything that could keep him from playing," the United States skipper told the media contingent in Hamburg. The press conference held a day after the devastating defeat at the hands of the world second ranked team helped clarify a possible injury to one of his starting defenders. The 32-year old defender is playing in his third World Cup and his national team head coach for the past eight years expects the veteran to be ready though he does remain cautious in his assessment. "I think it's the right thing to do, to take x-rays," said Arena. "They call them precautionary just to make sure. I could be wrong, but I've been told it's nothing to be concerned with."
RSL TRAINING SCHEDULE FOR WEEK OF June 12th, 2006:
**All practices are open to media members. All times and locations are subject to change.
DAY/DATE SITE TIME (MT)
Wednesday, June 14th Rice-Eccles Stadium 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 15th Rice-Eccles Stadium 3:30 p.m.
Friday, June 16th Rice-Eccles Stadium 9:30 a.m.
Saturday, June 17th GAME @ Houston Dynamo 7:00 p.m
Sunday, June 18th RESERVES @ Houston Dynamo 10:00 a.m.
Real Madrid Tickets: RSL Clients First!!!:
You MUST be a Real Salt Lake Season Seat/Flex Plan Owner for the opportunity to purchase Real Madrid tickets. Those who are not currently one of the more than 6,000 RSL clients have two options: 1) Purchase a Real Salt Lake Flex Plan or 2) Bring a group of 100 or more to the Real Madrid game AND one additional Real Salt Lake regular season game. YOU MUST BE A REAL SALT LAKE CLIENT TO BUY TICKETS TO THIS HISTORIC EVENT! Call 866-9-SOCCER to become an RSL client today!!
TICKETING NOTE: Ticket vouchers (including KFC and flex vouchers) are good for regular season games ONLY and cannot be redeemed for Real Madrid Tickets. Thank you for your cooperation
FAN VOTING CONTINUES FOR THE 2006 SIERRA MIST ALL-STAR GAME VS. CHELSEA FC: Real Salt Lake fans are invited to vote for their favorite Real Salt Lake stars to face-off against English Premier League champion Chelsea FC in the 2006 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game. Official online balloting is now open at www.RealSaltLake.com or at the league's official website, www.mlsnet.com, giving fans the chance to vote for the MLS All-Star XI in this year's game.
The Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game will bring together the best MLS players for a marquee match-up with English powerhouse Chelsea FC on Aug. 5, 2006, in Chicago's handsome new soccer-specific stadium in Bridgeview, Ill. The game will be nationally televised live on ESPN at 4:30 p.m. MT.
Fans can vote for the All-Star XI online at www.RealSaltLake.com or www.mlsnet.com by selecting up to one goalkeeper, three defenders, five midfielders, and two forwards. Fans can vote up to 10 times per day. The online fan balloting program, which concludes on Friday, July 7, will comprise 25 percent of the total vote for the All-Star XI, with coaches and general managers, players and media each holding 25 percent of the vote to combine for the remaining 75 percent. The following RSL players appear on the 2006 MLS All-Star ballot:
POSITION PLAYER
GK Scott Garlick
DF Eddie Pope
DF Chris Brown
DF Carey Talley
DF Danny Torres
MF Douglas Sequeira
MF Andy Williams
MF Chris Klein
MF Kenny Cutler
MF Mehdi Ballouchy
FW Jason Kreis
FW Jeff Cunningham
The coach of the MLS All-Star squad will be the coach of the MLS team with the best record, as decided by the most total points in League play, following games played on Monday, July 3. The standard MLS tiebreakers will determine the coach if two or more teams are tied. The All-Star XI will be announced on Wednesday, July 12. The MLS All-Star reserves will be announced on Friday, July 14. Five players will be selected as reserves by the head coach and the final two will be selected by MLS commissioner Don Garber.
This year's All-Star team will take on one of the world's top professional soccer clubs. Led by international soccer icons Frank Lampard, Arjen Robben, Hernan Crespo and Joe Cole, Chelsea FC is an all-star team of its own, and it has finished first in the prestigious English Premier League for two consecutive seasons.
This year marks the third time that MLS All-Stars have taken on a high-profile international opponent. In 2003 the MLS All-Stars defeated Mexican club CD Guadalajara 3-1, and in 2005 they stormed English opponents Fulham 4-1. The format of the Sierra Mist All-Star Game makes it the most competitive all-star competition in professional American sports.
2006 RSL TICKET PACKAGES ON SALE: RSL 2006 ticket packages are on sale and fans can now purchase full season, half season, the "High-Five" pack and flex season by visiting the RSL Ticket Office at 515 South 700 East, #2R, SLC, UT 84102, by logging onto www.RealSaltLake.com or by contacting the Real Salt Lake Ticket Office at (866) 9-SOCCER. Fans can also purchase single-game tickets 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. Finally, fans can purchase The KFC Colonel's Corner $12 ticket voucher, the club's most affordable single-game ticket, by visiting any of the 36 KFC® restaurants in Utah.
MLS CAMPS: The Official Camp and Clinic of Major League Soccer is NOW the Official Camp & Clinic of Real Salt Lake! NEW for 2006, Fantasy Camp and focused Team Training experiences. To find out more about all of RSL's Youth Development Programs, call Scott Reynolds at (801) 924-8575 or by email at SReynolds@RealSaltLake.com. To partner with RSL to host MLS Camps in your community, call us today.
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.
