HERRIMAN, Utah (Monday, June 17, 2024) – Real Salt Lake (9-2-7 / 34 points / 1st West) continues its 2024 MLS campaign on the road this Wednesday at Sporting Kansas City (3-10-5 / 14 points / 13th West), looking to extend its first-place lead atop the MLS Western Conference and stretch its overall unbeaten run to a new single-season Club-record of 15 games, as Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s team seeks to improve upon its 3-1-6 / 15-point road record – one which also includes an active nine-game road unbeaten run – thus far in 2024. Kickoff Wednesday in Kansas is at 6:30p MT, available on Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, with Tony Husband and Ross Smith (ENG) and Pablo Ramirez and Jesus Bracamontes (SPN) on the call.
First-place RSL returns home this Saturday against LA Galaxy, one of three teams within five points of RSL. The Kansas City trip is the eighth road match for RSL of 12 games played since mid-April, wrapping up a circuitous gauntlet that will see RSL finally staying home for a month, with Saturday’s America First Field match against the Galaxy followed by home games on July 3 (Houston) and July 6 (Atlanta). RSL next travels away on July 13 to Portland, a week that also sees trips to LAFC (July 17) and Colorado (July 20) prior to the 2024 MLS All-Star Game in Columbus (July 24) and the 2024 Leagues Cup (August 1 v Atlas, August 5 at Houston).
Despite Saturday’s scoreless draw in Montreal, RSL Captain Chicho Arango still leads the MLS Golden Boot race with 16 goals in 18 games, adding nine assists to keep pace with Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi, as each boasts a League-leading 25 goal contributions this season. Arango arrives in Kansas City midweek needing just one goal to match RSL’s single-season scoring record (Alvaro Saborio, 2012), while also needing just one assist to become the third RSL player ever to accumulate 10+ goals and 10+ assists in a single season, joining Albert Rusnák (11g/11a in 2021) and Jeff Cunningham (16g / 11a in 2006).
RSL – led by Arango and his 16 goals / 9 assists in 18 MLS games thus far, three ahead of D.C. United’s Christian Benteke in MLS Golden Boot pursuit – returns to MLS action with an active 14-game unbeaten run (eight wins, six draws) dating back to March 9 at home. During the current MLS run, RSL has outscored opponents 31-14, scoring first in seven of the 14 matches and hammering home five game-winning goals in the final 15 minutes of matches, as well as two extremely late stoppage-time equalizers.
In the Club’s last home match back on June 1, RSL thrashed Austin FC, 5-1, as both Arango and FW Anderson Julioeach scored twice in the first half for a 4-0 halftime lead, just the third time in RSL history it scored four goals in a half. Arango – who opened the day with a stunning 63-yard goal from beyond midfield – completed his hat trick midway through the second half, the Colombian Captain’s second three-goal performance of the season, making him just the second player in RSL history with multiple hat tricks (two in 36 MLS reg. season games played; Saborio owns three in 127 games).
Real Salt Lake @ Sporting Kansas City – MLS Matchday 21
Children’s Mercy Park – Kansas City, KS
Wednesday, June 19, 2024 – 6:30p MT
2023 Records: Real Salt Lake (14-12-8, 50 pts, 5th West MLS); Sporting Kansas City (12-14-8, 44 pts, 8th West MLS)
WE’RE GOING STREAKING
The active 14-game MLS unbeaten run establishes itself as RSL’s longest-ever single-season MLS streak (matching the 14-game streak set in 2010 and breaking the previous runner-up of 12 games to open 2014) and the Club’s third-longest overall in RSL’s 20-season history, exceeding last year’s 11-game streak across three competitions. RSL also boasts a 16-game run from 2013 into 2014, and a Club-record 18-game unbeaten streak from July 2010 to April 2011 (reg. season only). For the first time ever, RSL now owns back-to-back seasons with unbeaten runs of nine games or longer. With a result at Kansas City Wednesday, RSL would establish a new standalone single-season unbeaten streak record.
DEFENSIVE TENACITY RETURNS FOR RSL
On the heels of a dramatic three weeks that saw RSL concede six goals in back-to-back games and eight goals in four, Saturday’s shutout in Montreal marked the Club’s sixth of the year in 18 MLS reg. season games, with veteran GK Zac MacMath notching four of those six … RSL has allowed just two goals in its last 270 minutes played, at Seattle (1-1 draw) and v Austin (5-1 win) prior to the scoreless draw in Quebec. The 0-0 result was RSL’s second of the season – also posting a disappointing 0-0 at home against a rotated Columbus side on April 13 – and marking just the third shutout suffered by RSL this season (Feb. 21 at Miami in a 2-0 loss).
HOMEGROWN HIDALGO STEPS UP AT CENTERBACK
22-year-old DF Bode Hidalgo stepped up Saturday to play centerback in place of the injured Justen Glad (ankle), pairing with Brayan Vera and Andrew Brody in front of MacMath and shielded by Braian Ojeda and Emeka Eneli in a gritty performance that saw the young Utah native utilize his speed to fend off the Montreal counterattacks. The converted winger who usually lines up at right back previously played in the center on April 20, in a 4-0 road win at Chicago.
