Justin Johnson

New TV partnership kicks off RSL's 2012 campaign

While Real Salt Lake's 2012 campaign didn't officially start until this morning, the Claret-and-Cobalt have already made their first major splash of the season.

On Tuesday, RSL unveiled a new multi-year television broadcast partnership with KTVX that will showcase Real across the Beehive State like never before.

RSL and KTVX, along with KTVX-operated KUCW, will show 30 of Real Salt Lake's 34 regular season matches in full high-definition. The remaining four matches will be shown via national broadcast.

Williams

RSL's Andy Williams retires from pro soccer

SANDY -- For Real Salt Lake, it is the end of an era.

For Andy Williams, his future is just getting started.

Williams, the last remaining player from Real's inaugural 2005 season, announced his retirement on KALL-AM 700's Bill and Spence Show late Monday afternoon.

BRET HARTMAN/The Associated Press 
Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan (left) and Real Salt Lake midfielder Will Johnson battle for the ball during the second half of their MLS Western Conference Championship soccer match, on Nov. 6, in Carson, Calif. The Galaxy won 3-1.

Real Salt Lake comes up short in 2011

Expectations can be tricky things.

RSL awaits Galaxy in MLS semis

While Real Salt Lake and the Los Angeles Galaxy took wildly divergent paths to get there, both teams are precisely where many expected them to be at the start of the season.

Tonight at 7 p.m., RSL and L.A. will collide at the Home Depot Center, with the winner advance to the MLS Cup for the second time in three seasons.

"It's a good rivalry," Real goalkeeper Nick Rimando said earlier this week. "I think it all started from MLS Cup. The last four years we've been consistent with our play, and got to where the Galaxy have always been. We're their competition, I think."

(JIM URQUHART/The Associated Press)
Real Salt Lake players, from left, Fabian Espindola, Javier Morales and Chris Wingert (17) congratulate Alvaro Saborio (right) after Saborio scored a goal against the Seattle Sounders during the first leg of the Western Conference semifinals in Sandy on Saturday. Real Salt Lake won 3-0.

RSL hopes to put away Sounders

Real Salt Lake could hardly ask to be in better position heading into the second leg of its Western Conference semifinal series with Seattle.

When the action gets underway at 8 p.m. tonight on the turf at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, the Claret-and-Cobalt will have a three-goal cushion as it tries to fend off the Sounders in the decisive leg of the aggregate goals series.

RSL notes: Claret-and-Cobalt can't relent against Sounders

Nick Rimando is a pretty smart guy.

Having started 288 matches in his 12 year Major League Soccer career, the 32-year old native of Montclair, Calif., knows just how important it is for Real Salt Lake not to lose its focus as its Western Conference semifinal series shifts to Seattle this week for the decisive second leg.

"We've gotta go out and play; we can't just sit back and let (Seattle) come at us," Rimando said. "Seattle is a tough place to play. 3-0 is a good lead, but I think we need to continue to play well.

(NICHOLAS DRANEY/Standard-Examiner)
Real Salt Lake forward Fabian Espindola (7) moves the ball past Seattle Sounders midfielder Fredy Montero (17) at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy on Saturday.

RSL downs Sounders in first leg of semis

SANDY -- For the first time since May, Real Salt Lake put its first choice lineup on the field.

The result speaks for itself.

Striker Alvaro Saborio scored twice, once in each half, and the Claret-and-Cobalt charged out to a 3-0 lead against Seattle, taking a massive three-goal lead at the halfway point of their two-leg Western Conference semifinal series on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Beckerman returns to battle Sounders

SANDY -- It's easy to look at Real Salt Lake's six-match winless streak at the end of the season and not be encouraged at the team's prospects as it opens up the 2011 edition of the Major League Soccer playoffs tonight.

Especially with its opponent, Seattle, carrying a 5-2-0 record and the league's second-best record into tonight's 8 p.m. kickoff of a two-leg Western Conference semifinal series, which will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel.

(JACK DEMPSEY/The Associated Press) Real Salt Lake defender Nat Borchers kisses a fan in the stands after the team’s 0-0 tie with the Colorado Rapids in Commerce City, Colo., earlier this month. The win allowed RSL to keep the Rocky Mountain Cup.

The picture gets clearer for Real Salt Lake: Just win

With 42 matches this season across three different competitions now behind them, Real Salt Lake has its eyes on a single goal -- the 2011 Major League Soccer Cup.

The MLS season was a wild ride for the Claret-and-Cobalt, with enough injuries and lineup drama to fill multiple seasons, the campaign came to a close on Saturday night with Real claiming the No. 3 spot on the Western Conference table despite another uncharacteristic late-match gaffe that allowed Portland to escape from Rio Tinto Stadium with a draw.

On paper, RSL hardly looks to be in top form as it begins its quest for a second MLS Cup in three seasons. The team is winless in six matches and has scored just once in four matches.

A lot at stake for RSL in regular-season finale

SANDY -- The endgame of the Major League Soccer's regular season has arrived, with Real Salt Lake set to host a critical home match tonight against Portland.

At stake tonight when the Claret-and-Cobalt host the Timbers at 7 p.m. at Rio Tinto Stadium is the coveted No. 3 spot on the Western Conference table, a spot that would earn Real a pass through the wild-card round of the MLS playoffs and directly into a two-leg conference semifinal series with Seattle.

RSL notes: Real back in control of own playoff destiny

It's funny how just one result can change perception.

Despite being winless in its last five matches, the immediate future of Real Salt Lake suddenly looks much brighter than it did a week ago.

Rocky Mountain Cup and playoff position on the line for RSL

For the Claret-and-Cobalt, nearly everything is on the line tonight.

Status report: Real Salt Lake at crossroads as a franchise

Real Salt Lake's season began under a microscope, a glaring spotlight that only grew brighter as the early weeks of the 2011 campaign passed by.

That bang has become a whimper, and baring another dramatic turn in the near future, what was hyped as the greatest season in the Claret-and-Cobalt's seven year history will soon fade into silence.

With two matches left in the regular season, RSL is clearly nearing a crossroads as a franchise.

Real has kept its roster largely intact for four years, carefully adding in pieces of the puzzle that fit perfectly as RSL built itself into a juggernaut.

As this campaign winds down, however, cracks are beginning to appear, edges are fraying.

Depleted RSL hopes to snap skid

Real Salt Lake's first visit to Vancouver earlier this season didn't turn out well.

In fact, it didn't turn out at all as the match was postponed just two hours prior to kickoff due to excessive rain that waterlogged the Whitecaps' temporary playing surface that had been put down to prior to an international friendly match against Manchester City.

Three matches left in up-and-down campaign for RSL

Three matches remain in the 2011 regular season for the Claret-and-Cobalt, and the whipsaw that has become the campaign continues.

With three straight defeats for the first time since 2007, including blowout losses to D.C. United and Chicago, Real Salt Lake is trending downward again just days after ripping off five straight wins in a dramatic resurgence.

To be fair, RSL's 2-1 road loss late Saturday night to the Los Angeles Galaxy was hardly a "bad" loss given that Real held a 1-0 lead at halftime and pushed the Galaxy from start to finish.

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