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SANDY — It’s been nearly four months, but Real Salt Lake will take the pitch again Sunday to kick off its 2013 Major League Soccer regular season in California, where the Salt Lake club will face the San Jose Earthquakes.
The Claret and Cobalt will be taking the field without three veterans and regular starters from its 2012 season — defenders Chris Wingert and Nat Borchers, along with playmaker Javier Morales — who are each still dealing with injury and are in recovery, which may make them miss the first few weeks of the season all together.
With three veterans out and with the departure of three former RSL players during the postseason — striker Fabian Espindola, defender Jamison Olave and midfielder Will Johnson — RSL will be featuring quite a new lineup against San Jose and even some names that are new to the club within the last couple of months.
The Earthquakes will also take the pitch Sunday without a handful of key players due to injury — forwards Steven Lenhart and Alan Gordon along with midfielder Marvin Chavez and defender Steven Beitashour.
RSL faced the Earthquakes three times during the 2012 regular season, all of which resulted in losses. The Earthquakes went on to take the 2012 MLS Western Conference and the Supporters Shield last season.
RSL captain Kyle Beckerman and goalkeeper Nick Rimando will both be seeking major milestones in their MLS career during Sunday's match. The match will be the 300th regular season appearance for Beckerman, and with a shutout win, Rimando would hit his 100th shutout.
With the RSL captain deemed to receive minutes, Beckerman will become the 20th player in the history of MLS to reach 300 regular season appearances. Within the Claret and Cobalt club, Beckerman will be just the seventh player to hit that milestone.
Rimando’s projected milestone of 100 regular season shutouts would put him just the second player in the MLS to reach that particular milestone.
The Salt Lake club will return to Utah Monday evening for just one day before heading to face D.C. United next Saturday, March 9. RSL will open home play at Rio Tinto Stadium March 16 as it hosts the Colorado Rapids in leg one of the Subaru Rocky Mountain Cup.
Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
