sam stejskal
RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando earned his 100th career regular season shutout on Sunday at San Jose.
Here are a few of the best saves Nick's made during his RSL career. Some of these stops are truly incredible - I got the chills re-watching them.
It wasn't Argentina at the 2006 World Cup, but RSL's 12 pass sequence to lead to forward Alvaro Saborio's second goal in the 85th minute of Sunday night's 2-0 win at San Jose was still pretty cool.
Check out the full build-up to the goal above.
Real Salt Lake started its season in style on Sunday night, getting a pair of goals from forward Alvaro Saborio to down defending Supporters’ Shield winners San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 at Buck Shaw Stadium
Here are a few interesting numbers from Sunday’s match:
100
Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando has 100 career MLS regular season shutouts after blanking the ‘Quakes on Sunday night. Rimando made two saves at Buck Shaw, including one fingertip stop on 2012 MVP Chris Wondolowski.
The 33-year-old Rimando is second all-time on the MLS career shutouts list, trailing only unsigned ‘keeper Kevin Hartman, who has 112 career clean-sheets.
300
RSL captain Kyle Beckerman made his 300th career regular season appearance on Sunday night, becoming the 20th player in league history to reach the mark.
Beckerman is the seventh player with RSL ties to hit 300 appearances, joining Jeff Cunningham (365), Chris Klein (333), RSL Head Scout Andy Williams (332), Rimando (320), Carey Talley (315) and RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis as former/current players in the exclusive club.
14
Real Salt Lake forward Alvaro Saborio’s two-goal performance on Sunday night gives him 14 career multi-goal games across all competitions for RSL.
31-5-5
RSL’s record when Saborio scores.
12
The number of passes RSL played in the build-up to Saborio’s second goal in the 85th minute. That’s a lot.
18
The Earthquakes entered Sunday’s match with an 18-game home regular season unbeaten streak. RSL squashed that, handing San Jose its first regular season loss in the Bay Area since August 2011.
4
RSL has now won four-consecutive MLS season openers. Three of those four wins have come at San Jose, with the Claret-and-Cobalt beating the ‘Quakes at Buck Shaw in 2010, 2011 and 2013. RSL – which is 4-2-3 all-time in season openers – beat L.A. in its 2012 season opener.
A great story from FOX 13 on the eve of the season.
A quick update on RSL opponent San Jose ahead of Sunday’s season opener at Buck Shaw Stadium:
Two target strikers down
Earthquakes forwards Steven Lenhart and Alan Gordon will both miss Sunday’s match due to injury. Both players had career years in 2012, with Lenhart scoring a career high 10 goals and Gordon tallying a career high 13.
Importantly, the absence of Gordon and Lenhart leaves San Jose without a target forward on Sunday. That means less space for 2012 MVP Chris Wondolowski, who won’t have a big bruiser up top to occupy the center backs for him.
Flank play diminished through injury
San Jose midfielder Marvin Chavez and right back Steven Beitashour will join Lenhart and Gordon in the stands on Sunday, both missing the match due to injury.
Like Lenhart and Gordon, Chavez had a career year in 2012. The Honduran international tied for third in the league with 13 assists and registered three goals from his spot at the outside of the midfield. Beitashour also had a strong season, earning an All-Star nod and registering six assists in the 2012 campaign.
Much of the service that comes from the wing – and goes to Wondolowski in the box – was supplied by Chavez and Beitashour in 2012. Their replacements likely won’t be as effective as they would’ve been on Sunday, something that bodes well for RSL, which is dealing with a few injuries of its own.
Real Salt Lake midfielder Kyle Beckerman and goalkeeper Nick Rimando can both hit major MLS milestones in Sunday’s season opener at San Jose, with Beckerman looking for his 300th career regular season appearance and Rimando aiming for his 100th career regular season shutout.
Barring anything unforeseen, Beckerman on Sunday will become the 20th player in MLS history to reach 300 career regular season appearances. The Claret-and-Cobalt captain will move into a tie on 300 appearances with D.C. midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, who is suspended for United’s season opener at Houston and March 9 match at RFK Stadium against RSL.
Beckerman will be the seventh player with RSL ties to hit 300 appearances, joining Jeff Cunningham (365), Chris Klein (333), RSL Head Scout Andy Williams (332), Rimando (319), Carey Talley (315) and RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis (305) as former/current Claret-and-Cobalt players in the exclusive club.
Rimando is looking to become the second player in MLS history to reach 100 shutouts. He’s currently in second-place on the MLS career shutouts list, trailing only unsigned ‘keeper Kevin Hartman, who has 112 regular season clean-sheets.
Good luck to both Kyle and Nick as they shoot for these huge marks at San Jose on Sunday.
After taking Monday and Tuesday off, Real Salt Lake returned to training on Wednesday ahead of Sunday's MLS regular season opener at defending Supporters' Shield winners San Jose Earthquakes.
RSL trained on Wednesday at the Utah Sports Lodge, putting in about 90 minutes of work on a turf field at the indoor facility before heading back to Rio Tinto Stadium. Missing from Wednesday's training were injured players Javier Morales and Chris Wingert as well as midfielder Luis Gil, who is traveling back to Salt Lake City on Wednesday from the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Puebla, Mexico. Injured defender Nat Borchers was at the session, training individually on the sidelines throughout. Borchers is expected to be back in action in mid- to early-April.
RSL will train again in Utah on Thursday before departing for San Jose, where it will practice on Friday and Saturday. The Claret-and-Cobalt is hoping to train on Thursday at America First Field in Sandy, but may be forced indoors again due to weather conditions.
Sunday's season opener will kick off at 8 p.m. MT on CW30. The 30-minute Ford Pregame Show will begin at 7:30 p.m. MT on CW30.
Real Salt Lake color commentator Brian Dunseth had some interesting things to say about RSL’s depth during On Frame on ESPN 700 on Monday night, declaring that the Claret-and-Cobalt – despite all of its offseason changes – is unquestionably the deepest team in MLS.
“This is a much deeper team than it was last season,” Dunseth said. “I know that’s crazy to say, but for me this is the deepest team in Major League Soccer, hands down, no competition anywhere else.”
It’s easy to see where Dunny’s coming from. The Claret-and-Cobalt is stocked at nearly every position this year, going a solid four or five deep at forward, nine or 10 deep in the midfield and eight or nine deep in the defense. RSL even has some solid competition at the goalkeeper spot, with 2011 and 2012 MLS Cup winning ‘keeper Josh Saunders backing up RSL mainstay Nick Rimando.
All of that is a big change from last season, when RSL didn’t have many bench options at any position, let alone at all four.
“You look at over the last three, four years and RSL is one of the best teams in Major League Soccer,” Dunseth said. “Then you add Josh Saunders, who’s played in three out of the last four MLS Cup Finals for the L.A. Galaxy; Robbie Findley comes back; you get Joao Plata, arguably the most dynamic player in CONCACAF Champions League play from a MLS-based team last year; Lovel Palmer, a guy with MLS experience; Khari Stephenson, he’s slid in perfectly with this group; you add Cole Grossman, who’s played some games in Columbus; Rich Balchan, potentially, if he signs, the same thing; Aaron Maund from Toronto.
“Then you get to the draft picks. Devon Sandoval has been very, very good in a short amount of time in preseason. John Stertzer, he’s pro ready and we talked about this right after the draft, this kid can slot in and play. Then you have Olmes Garcia, a young physical talent who has all the capabilities in the world to be a good player.”
And those are just the new players. Dunseth didn’t even mention returnees Sebastian Velasquez – who looked very good in preseason – Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Kenny Mansally and Yordany Alvarez, all players who have proven that they can play in MLS and will get minutes in 2013.
“Right now, I just don’t see how you can argue the point,” Dunseth said. “This is the deepest team in Major League Soccer based on games played and experience.”
Real Salt Lake midfielder Luis Gil notched an assist in the U.S. Under-20 national team's 1-0 win over Costa Rica in the Group Stage of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship on Friday night.
Gil delivered the corner kick that L.A. Galaxy attacker Jose Villarreal nodded home in the 63rd minute. Friday night's win moved the U.S. to 2-0-0 in the Group Stage, giving the Stars-and-Stripes the Group A title.
The U.S. will now face Group B runners-up Canada in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship Quarterfinals on Feb. 26. The winner of that match will advance to this summer's 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey.