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SANDY — Real Salt Lake isn’t only opening its home stadium for the Major League Soccer 2013 regular season Saturday, but it's also opening this season’s Rocky Mountain Cup — a rivalry that is deep and means something to the Salt Lake club and has since the beginning.
“It means a ton to our fans,” RSL captain Kyle Beckerman told ESPN 700 during a radio interview. “When I came (to RSL from Colorado), it was like a chance to not only turn the tide with our mentality and become a winning club and one that expects to win, but we can do something to win over our rivals, we can win our first trophy and our fans can have some bragging rights and start to be proud of something.”
RSL will face the Colorado Rapids at its home pitch only once this season. The other two legs of the Rocky Mountain Cup this season will be played at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Denver.
The Salt Lake club goes into Saturday’s match with the Rapids 1-1-0 on the season with three points. The Rapids enter the match sitting at 0-2-0 this season.
Saturday could see RSL forward Robbie Findley return to the pitch inside Rio Tinto since his departure in 2010. Findley has started the last two matches for the Claret and Cobalt.
The RSL backline will be without defender Abdoulie Mansally Saturday as he serves a one-game suspension, which was handed to him by the MLS disciplinary committee on Thursday. The incident that earned him the suspension and a fine took place during the Salt Lake club’s match last weekend against D.C. United. Mansally’s head butt against D.C. United midfielder Perry Kitchen in the 61st minute was deemed violent conduct by the MLS disciplinary committee.
RSL will also still be without three veterans and regular starters from last season against the Rapids. Defenders Nat Borchers and Chris Wingert along with midfielder Javier Morales are still recovering from injury, but are inching closer to returning to the pitch.
When I came (to RSL from Colorado), it was like a chance to not only turn the tide with our mentality and become a winning club and one that expects to win, but we can do something to win over our rivals, we can win our first trophy and our fans can have some bragging rights and start to be proud of something.
–Kyle Beckerman
“Wingert is starting to run this week, which was great to hear,” Beckerman told ESPN 700. “Nat Borchers, he started training with us for about a week and a half, two weeks now. So the main thing for him is just fitness, make sure there’s no setbacks, get your balance back, and I think that’s coming along every day for him. Javier, I think this past week he’s kind of upped the training. We should see all three of them in the next couple weeks.”
RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando will be honored prior to the first kick on Saturday for his 100 career shutouts. Rimando earned his 100th shutout with the club’s season-opener 2-0 win at San Jose March 3.
Following the Salt Lake club’s home opener against the Colorado Rapids, RSL will head back out onto the road the following week to face MLS opponent FC Dallas on March 23. RSL will return to Rio Tinto March 30 to host the Seattle Sounders.
Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
