First-Place Utah Side Plays Four of Next Five Away, Starting Saturday in Dallas; RSL Unbeaten in Last 10 Overall in League Play, Including Six Consecutive Results on Road; Captain Chicho Arango Battling with Messi for MLS Lead in Goal Contributions w/ 21 (13g, 8a); RSL Back at Home on Sat., June 1 v Austin, w/ Tickets for All 2024 America First Field Matches Available at www.RSL.com/tickets
HERRIMAN, Utah (Friday, May 24, 2024) – Real Salt Lake (8-2-4 / 28 points / 1st West) travels this holiday weekend to Frisco, Texas to face FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium Saturday night, looking to extend its first-place lead atop the MLS Western Conference and stretch its overall unbeaten run to 11 games, as a win or draw would also give Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s team SEVEN consecutive road results. Kickoff Saturday at Dallas is at 6:30p MT, available on Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, with Mark Followilland Warren Barton (ENG) and Raul Guzman and Carlos Ruiz (SPN) on the call.
First-place RSL – led by Captain Chicho Arango and his 13 goals / 8 assists in 14 MLS games thus far – improved to 5-1-1 at home last week with a pair of wins, starting with 2-0 win over visiting Seattle and an amazing comeback in the second of three Rocky Mountain Cup tilts this year against Colorado. For just the fourth time in the Club’s 628-game history, RSL rebounded from an 0-2 deficit to earn the full three points, riding 2-goal/1-assist performances from both Arango and Andrés Gómez to defeat the Rapids 5-3 before a standing-room only crowd of 20,728.
RSL arrives in Texas this weekend riding an active 10-game unbeaten run (seven wins, three draws) dating back to March 9 at home, a stretch that has seen one of Major League Soccer’s staunchest defenses (Cincinnati, Minnesota, Houston, Columbus, Charlotte) notch five clean sheets during this period. During the current MLS run, RSL has outscored opponents 22-9, scoring first in six of the 10 matches and hammering home five game-winning goals in the final 15 minutes of matches.
Off to the best start in Club history with 28 points from 14 matches (exceeding both 2016 and 2014), RSL has ascended to the top of the Western Conference for its latest first-place bragging rights in the calendar since April 30, 2016, and the latest solo No. 1 in the West since August 2013. This week’s back-to-back road contests precede the June 1 match against Austin FC, just the fourth of four America First Field matches for RSL from mid-April to mid-June, the Claret-and-Cobalt playing eight of 12 away from home during that span, including the trip to Dallas and a midweek rematch at Seattle. RSL will then enjoy a much-needed early June 8 international bye weekend prior to again traveling to Montreal and Kansas City on June 15/19 to wrap up the circuitous gauntlet.
Real Salt Lake @ FC Dallas – MLS Matchday 16
Toyota Stadium – Frisco, Texas
Saturday, May 25, 2024 – 6:30p MT
Game Notes for Saturday’s RSL @ FC Dallas Match Available Online
The Adobe PDF version of the 2024 RSL Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas can be found HERE. Media members looking to receive the document as an attachment or have further questions are asked to please contact RSL Communications via email at RSLcommunications@RSL.com.
2023 Records: Real Salt Lake (14-12-8, 50 pts, 5th West MLS); FC Dallas (11-10-13, 46 pts, 7th West MLS)
WE’RE GOING STREAKING
The active 10-game MLS unbeaten run is the second-longest single-season streak and the Club’s fourth-longest overall in RSL’s 20-season history, trailing last year’s 11-game streak across three competitions, as well as a 16-game run from 2013 into 2014, and a Club-record 18-game unbeaten streak from July 2010 to April 2011. For the first time ever, RSL now owns back-to-back seasons with unbeaten runs of nine games or longer. With two more win/draw results at Dallas and Seattle this week, RSL could establish a new single-season unbeaten streak record.
Real Salt Lake’s recent three-game MLS win streak – snapped May 11 at LA Galaxy with the 95th-minute concession on the last kick of the game – was the Claret-and-Cobalt’s first in nearly two years. RSL last strung together three straight victories in league action in both May and March of 2022; RSL also had three such streaks in the 2019 season. However, RSL had not enjoyed a three-game win streak involving two road victories – as the recent run did – since August, 2018. How will this week’s trips to Dallas and Seattle rewrite the record books?
2024 ROCKY MOUNTAIN CUP TO BE DECIDED JULY 20
RSL and Colorado compete in three MLS reg. season matches this season for the fan-created Rocky Mountain Cup. Back on March 9, Colorado won 2-1, RSL unable to capitalize on Emeka Eneli’s first-ever professional goal and a solid performance by teenage goalkeeper Gavin Beavers. That Rapids win was the Colorado club’s first on Utah soil since 2020, and its first on Utah soil with fans in the stands since 2007 – SEVENTEEN years prior.
All time, RSL and Colorado have played 61 games across all competitions – 58 in MLS play and three in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Overall, RSL has won 31, lost 18 and tied 13 matches against Pablo Mastroeni’s former side, outscoring the Rapids by 33 goals overall. The teams’ first-ever meeting was also RSL’s inaugural home game, famously won 1-0 on a Brian Dunseth header in a game that also included Mastroeni, Kyle Beckerman, Nat Borchers, Clint Mathis and several others who have worn both the Claret-and-Cobalt and the Burgundy-and-Blue.
RSL has been dominant on the Wasatch Front, with 18 wins, 6 losses and 7 draws, winning 14 Rocky Mountain Cups in the last 19 years. In suburban Denver, RSL has won 11 games, lost 12 and drawn six, with RSL winning the lone neutral-site match played during the pandemic bubble in 2020, a 2-0 victory in Orlando.
This year’s Rocky Mountain Cup will be decided on July 20, with RSL pursuing its 15th RMC in 20 seasons.
CAPTAIN CHICHO REMAINS ON FIRE
When Chicho Arango finds the scoresheet, as he has in 11 of 14 MLS matches this year, RSL owns seven wins and three draws (May 11 brace at LA Galaxy wasted, with the Claret-and-Cobalt failing to score at Miami Feb. 24 and April 13 v. Columbus) against one loss, with Chicho’s assist on an Emeka Eneli goal back on March 9 coming in the home defeat to Colorado.
Chicho provided a three-goal explosion in a 21-minute span in the Utah side’s come-from-behind 3-1 home win over St. Louis on March 30, the Club’s first hat trick since September 17, 2018 (Damir Kreilach). Chicho’s three-goal performance is just the seventh in RSL’s now 628-game MLS history, the Colombian joining Alvaro Saborio (three hats – two in 2012, one in 2013), along with Robbie Findley (2009), Javier Morales (2014) and Kreilach. Former Captain, head coach and current Club director Jason Kreis also had a hat trick, albeit in the 2005 U.S. Open Cup.
Arango now has two hat tricks in his MLS career – his first was for LAFC in late 2021 against Dallas – and boasts 112 goals as a professional, including 56 goals in 89 games across all competitions since arriving in MLS for LAFC and RSL. Since appearing on the Wasatch Front last July, Chicho boasts 21 goals and 10 assists in 32 MLS reg. season appearances for the Claret-and-Cobalt, with those numbers increasing to 23 goals and 12 assists in 37 RSL games across all competitions (incl. Leagues Cup, Open Cup, Playoffs).
CHICHO CHASING MLS HISTORY
With another goal in Dallas on Saturday, RSL striker Chicho Arango would become just the eighth player in MLS history to reach 50 career MLS regular-season goals in 77 games or fewer:
All-time MLS Players w/ 50 career MLS regular-season goals in 77 or fewer games:
Player, Goal #, Game #, Date
Zlatan Ibrahimovic 50, 54, 9/25/2019
Josef Martinez 50, 54, 10/28/2018
Carlos Vela 50, 61, 3/8/2020
Raul Diaz Arce 51, 67, 7/4/1998
Carlos Ruiz 50, 69, 8/21/2004
Roy Lassiter 52, 75, 7/18/1998
Taylor Twellman 50, 77, 4/27/2005
Chicho Arango 49, 76, ???
With a goal in either of his next two matches, Chicho would become the second-fastest active player to reach the milestone behind only Josef Martinez (54 games), possibly becoming just the fourth active player to reach the mark in fewer than 100 games:
Active players to reach the career 50-goal milestone in fewer than 100 career games:
Player, Goal #, Game #, Date
Josef Martinez 50, 54, 10/28/2018
Raul Ruidiaz 50. 79. 11/01/2021
Hany Mukhtar 51, 93, 05/20/2023
Chicho Arango 49, 76, ???
Chicho scored 30 of his 49 career MLS reg. season goals during the 2021 and 2022 seasons in 51 games with LAFC (0.59 goals per game, and a rate of 0.72 goals per 90), and has scored 19 in 25 games (0.76/game, 0/87 per 90) across the last 10 months with RSL, spanning the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Chicho needs 12 more Claret-and-Cobalt goals in the remaining 20 games of the current MLS campaign to surpass his LAFC output on a volume basis, with his per-game numbers significantly better at RSL.
IRON MEN ALL AROUND THE PARK
Two RSL players – MF Emeka Eneli (1260) and FW Chicho Arango (1235) – have played nearly every minute of the Club’s 14-game MLS season so far in 2024, with only second-year man Eneli perfect from a minutes standpoint. DF Andrew Brody (1112) did not start twice this season, but has appeared in every match.
Three players to have appeared in 13 league games, missing just one game this year – Anderson Julio, Braian Ojeda and Andrés Gómez – while Justen Glad, Matt Crooks, Diego Luna, Fidel Barajas and Bode Hidalgo have each appeared in 12 of 14 MLS contests thus far, with a heavily-congested May/June continuing this week.
70 DAYS AWAY FROM LEAGUES CUP OPENER: On August 1, RSL kicks off its participation in the 2024 Leagues Cup, the second year of the 47-team, 78-game tournament, with three CONCACAF Champions Cup berths on the line. RSL is grouped with a road tilt away at Houston Dynamo (MLS) on August 5, with the home opener on August 1 against Atlas CF (MEX) match at America First Field in its West 2 group, with single-elimination knockout games to follow leading up to an August 25 title match.
Based on last year’s fifth-seeded West finish (14W-12L-8T, 50 points, 48 GF / 50 GA), RSL will be grouped with both Houston and Liga MX side Atlas F.C. in Leagues Cup 2024 this July. RSL last faced Atlas in the 2022 Leagues Cup “Showcase” match in Utah, dropping a 1-2 decision despite former DF Aaron Herrera’s wondergoal from 65 yards away over the retreating goalkeeper.
Due to the new for 2024 Leagues Cup seeding formula, RSL will once again travel to Houston for a group stage LC match in addition to its two MLS reg. season games against the Dynamo, with RSL now winless in its last six games against Houston – all last year – across all competitions. Prior to the active six-game streak without a win against the South Texas side, RSL had seen great success against the Dynamo, which defeated RSL for the first time in 11 games dating back to 2017 in last year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal.
ABOUT REAL SALT LAKE
During the first week of January 2022, the RSL compendium of properties was acquired by global sports entrepreneur David Blitzer – who boasts interests in the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), the New Jersey Devils (NHL), the Cleveland Guardians (baseball) and the Washington Commanders (NFL) – as well as several European soccer entities, including Crystal Palace (England), FC Augsburg (Germany), Estoril (Portugal), ADO Den Haag (Netherlands), Alcorcón (Spain), SK Beveren (Belgium) and Brøndby IF (Denmark). The Blitzer group partners with Utah-based Smith Entertainment Group (SEG), which owns the Utah Jazz (NBA) and the new Utah Hockey Club (NHL), led by Ryan Smith and including Dwyane Wade, among others.
Real Salt Lake recently kicked off its 20th Major League Soccer season, its third full season under Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni, who led the Utah side on an interim basis for the final 100 days in 2021. RSL is the lone Western Conference side to have advanced to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the 2021, 2022 and 2023 campaigns, amassing 13 postseason appearances in the last 16 years, as well as on five occasions in the last six seasons.
RSL’s MLS Cup 2009 victory marked the state of Utah’s only major professional championship in nearly 40 years, the title preceding an historic run to the 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League Final. Buoyed by a passionate base boasting several thousand season ticket holders and opening its permanent home in Sandy just over 15 years ago; since October, 2008, RSL’s 167-60-76 (W-L-T) mark at America First Field – home of the “RioT” Supporters Group umbrella – equates to a 1.92 points per game average and a 0.689 win pct, one of the truly amazing value proposition in North American sporting landscape today.
For the 2024 season and beyond, Real Salt Lake’s Blitzer / Smith ownership groups have partnered to bring the National Women’s Soccer League back to Utah, as Utah Royals FC returned this Spring. Led by Head Coach Amy Rodriguez, President Michelle Hyncik and Sporting Director Kelly Cousins, URFC aims to seize upon the success the NWSL enjoyed during its first iteration on the Wasatch Front from 2018-20 and grow the game to even greater heights going forward. Led by visionary sports business entrepreneur Jess Gelman – the founder of the Sloan Sports Analytics Institute, along with innovative NBA executive Daryl Morey – Utah Royals FC blazes new trails in 2024 at America First Field.
In 2015, the club expanded its development pyramid with the addition of Real Monarchs SLC, one of several MLS-operated clubs playing in the USL Championship, the United States’ Division II setup. The Monarchs boast a pair of titles in its brief history, as the 2017 USL Championship Regular-Season champions, later winning the USL Championship title in 2019. For the 2022 season and beyond, Real Monarchs compete in the newly-launched “MLS NEXT Pro” as part of a joint United States and Canada endeavor to complete the professional player pathway by connecting youth academies in MLS NEXT to first teams in Major League Soccer.
The entire competitive RSL setup, which includes nearly 70 players representing the RSL Academy’s U-15 and U-17 teams, calls the expansive Zions Bank Training Center in Herriman, Utah their daily training home. With five world-class grass fields, two indoor turf fields, a residential dormitory, the STEM-based RSL Academy High School and the 5,000-seat Zions Bank Stadium located on a 42-acre campus, Utah’s sporting future is bright.
The RSL Community Foundation was established in 2016, created with the goals of being active in the community yearround, utilizing the popularity and reach of RSL, the Royals, the Monarchs and the Academy in promoting health and wellness in children throughout the region, engaging supporters of soccer to raise funds and volunteer time for various local initiatives.
2024 RSL Full-Season Ticket Packages NOW ON SALE at www.RSL.com or by calling 844.Real.Tix.
