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SANDY — After a bye week, Real Salt Lake returns to the pitch on the road Saturday and will be looking to continue its history-making season by claiming its first-ever win in the Lone Star State against Major League Soccer opponent FC Dallas.
“It has been historically a very, very difficult place for us to play,” RSL head coach Jason Kreis told ESPN 700 earlier this week. “The heat is immense at this time of the year. So it’s going to be a difficult place for us to play, it’s going to be a difficult place for us to get a result, but that won’t change the fact that we’re going to go in there looking for three points. We got our first three points in Canada this year, perhaps this is the year for us to get our first three points in Texas as well.”
RSL is in first place in the West with 34 points and a 10-5-4 record. The Salt Lake club also sports a 10-game unbeaten streak across both MLS and U.S. Open Cup play. FC Dallas sits just behind the Salt Lake club in second place, separated by three points.
The Salt Lake club looks at Saturday’s match as an opportunity to break away from FC Dallas.
“We’re going out there obviously with the stigma of not winning in Texas, but we’re going to change that and we want to change that,” RSL goalkeeper Josh Saunders told ESPN 700 Thursday. “It’s a big game because Dallas is, I think, four points behind us and it gives us a chance to separate ourselves.”
RSL also knows exactly what it needs to do to grab that first-ever Texas win.
“It’s (going to take) a complete effort, everyone working together, staying compact and playing Real Salt Lake soccer,” said Saunders. “Not adjusting to what they do, we should make teams adjust to us because we play so well and we keep the ball so well.”
FC Dallas enters the match off a 2-0 loss in Los Angeles against MLS west conference opponent the Galaxy last Sunday. The Texas side is 8-4-7 on the season and in a six-game winless slump.
The Salt Lake side will be without a four regulars due to international call-ups and CONCACAF Gold Cup action which will take place at Rio Tinto Stadium, also on Saturday. RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman, defender Tony Beltran and goalkeeper Nick Rimando will suit up for the United States as it takes on Cuba. RSL forward Alvaro Saborio will suit up for Costa Rica as it takes on Belize.
Following Saturday’s match in Texas, the Claret and Cobalt will return to its home pitch to host Sporting Kansas City on July 20. Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
