HERRIMAN, Utah (Friday, March 25, 2022) – Real Salt Lake (3-0-1, 10 pts, T-1st West) kicks off a two-game rivalry road swing this Saturday, March 26 against Sporting Kansas City, with next week’s trip to Colorado featuring the first leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup. All told, Saturday’s 5:00 p.m. MT kickoff from Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City leads a stretch that sees RSL travel for four of its next five contests overall.
Saturday’s match will broadcast nationally in Spanish on UniMás and locally broadcast on KMYU (2.2 over-the-air, 643/22 Comcast, 12 Satellite). The match is also available to stream via the KSL TV & KSL Sports apps, as well as via KSLSports.com. Fans can also follow via ESPN700 AM radio. Spanish-speaking fans can tune in on KBMG Latino 106.3 FM, La Gran D 102.3 FM and KTUB 1600 AM for the local radio broadcast.
Real Salt Lake at Sporting Kansas City
Children’s Mercy Park; Kansas City, Kansas
Saturday, March 26 at 5:00 p.m. MT
Game Notes for Saturday’s RSL @ SKC game Available Online
The Adobe PDF version of the 2022 MLS Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City can be found here. Media members looking to receive the document as an attachment or have further questions are asked to please contact Meg Van Dyk in RSL Communications via email at meg.vandyk@rsl.com
2022 Records: Real Salt Lake (3-0-1, 10 pts, T-1st West); Sporting Kansas City (1-3-0, 3 points, 12th West)
Head-to-Head: Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City own a long-standing rivalry that has seen each team dominate for spells. Recently, Real Salt Lake swept Kansas City in both 2021 regular-season matches, as well last year’s Western Conference Semifinal. RSL currently owns an all-time MLS mark of 15-11-8 (W-L-T) record against Sporting, with a 5-6-5 regular-season record at Children’s Mercy Park. RSL has not lost at Kansas City in the regular season since April 29, 2017, posting a 6-1-2 mark in that span against Peter Vermes’ side.
STORYLINES TO WATCH:
Near Perfect Start
With last Saturday’s 2-1 win over Nashville SC, Real Salt Lake extended its season-opening unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1), capturing 10 of a possible 12 points to give RSL its best start to a season since 2011. In that campaign 11 years ago, RSL won four straight followed by a 1-0 loss to Portland Timbers in the fifth match of the season, for 12 points through the first five matches. A win this weekend at Sporting Kansas City would secure Real Salt Lake’s best-ever start to a season.
The Club’s longest unbeaten streak to start a season took place in 2014, when the team went 6-0-6 through the first 12 games, tying an MLS record for the best start to a season. That year, through the first eight matches the Claret-and-Cobalt only earned 14 points, having played to five draws and three wins.
Rejuvenated Rivalry
The rivalry between Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City dates back to a preseason match in 2011 when a bad tackle on RSL legend Javier Morales led to both benches clearing. The rivalry includes some historic moments, including a heartbreaking defeat in 20 rounds of penalty kicks to decide MLS Cup 2013. But the rivalry has found new life in recent years, as RSL has earned a 3-1-1 record vs. KC in the last four seasons, including a pair of stoppage-time goals in 2021 – the regular-season “Damiracle” at Children’s Mercy Park that vaulted RSL into the postseason and knocked KC from West title contention, and the come-from-behind 2-1 RSL victory in the West Semifinal that also featured another stoppage-time stunner.
Upcoming Player Milestones
After making his RSL debut this past Saturday against Nashville SC, DF Johan Kappelhof is now just two appearances away from 150 career MLS games played. Meanwhile, with his 2022 debut this past weekend, RSL Homegrown DF Aaron Herrera is now two appearances from 100 games played, all for the Claret-and-Cobalt. Herrera will be just the second RSL Homegrown Player to reach the centennial mark, all with Real Salt Lake, the other being DF Justen Glad, who has now appeared in 161 matches.
Sporting Kansas City Roster Changes
Kansas City made several big changes to its roster this past offseason, including adding three players via the U22 initiative in Logan Ndenbe, Marinos Tzionis and Robert Voloder. KC also added Montenegro forward Nikola Vuhovic and free agents Kortne Ford from Colorado Rapids, Ben Sweat from Austin FC and Uri Rosell from Orlando City. These acquisitions come in the war of Ilie Sanchez’s departure to LAFC and Jaylin Lindsey’s selection by Charlotte FC in the 2022 MLS Expansion Draft.
Connections: Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia was a member of Real Salt Lake during the 2010 and 2011 seasons, serving as a backup to RSL legend Nick Rimando. Since joining Sporting KC in 2015 he has appeared in 167 matches and was named 2015 MLS Comeback Player of the Year and 2017 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. Additionally, RSL Assistant Coach Matt Taylor played in 17 games for Sporting Kansas City in 2004 when they were known as the Kansas City Wizards.
