SANDY The longest offseason in Real Salt Lake history is coming to a close.
After sitting idle in the opening week of Major League Soccer s 2021 season, the club from Sandy will finally open the season on the road Saturday at Minnesota United FC (6 p.m. MT, KMYU).
A lot has changed since the last time a lot of casual fans likely paid attention to the club. So let s get up to speed with three things to know before Saturday evening.
Who s going to score the goals?
RSL ranked last in the Western Conference a year ago with only 25 goals scored, down from 46 during the more normal schedule of 2019.
Photo courtesy of UCF Athletics.
The UCF Knights clinched the War on I-4 rivalry series against USF this weekend by winning three of the series’ four games.
UCF began the War on I-4 series by winning both games of Friday’s doubleheader. Game one resulted in a shut-out, as the Knights came away with the commanding 6-0 win.
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UCF’s momentum would carry on to game two, as the Knights would take an early 4-0 lead going within the contest’s first three innings. The Bulls responded by closing the gap to just two runs with three innings left to play.
Soapbox Oracle - 2021 Predictions
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First kick for MLS is rapidly approaching. Here are the initial condensed results from the reader survey, and here’s the spreadsheet with all the results.
Feel free to comment with your picks below, the survey will remain open for some time yet if you want to enter your predictions just fill out
this form! Duplicate entries put in before the season starts will use the newest, after the first week the original entry will be kept. Scoring will be one point per correct answer, and I’ll publish the totals at the end of the year.
Notable Performers: Galaxy 1-0 RSL
A few players made a case for themselves.
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Pablo Ruiz - Pablo remains a steady player in the midfield with precise, creative play and a constant threat from the top of the box. If there is much to take out of these preseason games, of note is that Ruiz is picking up right where he left off in 2020 and continues to show that he is needed on the field for RSL to be at their best.
Andrew Brody - Brody has lifted a few eyebrows in this trip to Tucson for preseason and against the Galaxy he was willing the offense for much of the first half. He picks up the pace of the game when he is looking to get forward and has the ability to create some good looks for his team. It will be fun to watch the impact he has on the club this season.
What we’re watching in RSL vs. LA Galaxy, 2021 preseason edition
It’s promising to be an interesting one.
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Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images
Before we take on teams from Los Angeles repeatedly during the 2021 season, we’re getting a bit of a warmup today: It’s Real Salt Lake vs. LA Galaxy, 2021 preseason edition.
The match is the final one in RSL’s preseason schedule, which has included an unstreamed match against Phoenix Rising, a duo of matches against Sacramento Republic, and a 3-0 win over Colorado Rapids.
Between July 3 and Aug. 4, will travel to and host both LA Galaxy and LAFC, giving the team four matches in seven against Los Angeles-based opponents. It’s a bit weird, if we’re being honest.