• Facing tough road stretch, RSL looking to hit reset button - Michael C. Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune
• It’s such a fine line between bench, starter - Brad Rock of the Deseret News
• Real Salt Lake versus D.C. United preview - ESPN Soccernet
• Real Salt Lake faces tall task this weekend at D.C. United - Examiner.com
• Gaucho vs. Gaucho? - Steven Goff’s Soccer Insider

Congratulations are in order for RSL rookie midfielder Jean Alexandre. The 22-year-old Lynn University product has earned a callup to his native Haiti’s National Team for this Saturday’s match vs. Jamaica in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The weekend match provides the opportunity for Jean to add to his three career caps with the National Team.

Good luck Jean. We’ll all be pulling for you…

• Real Salt Lake’s mistake after strong start? Team believed the hype - Michael C. Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune
• Defensive focus holds key to snapping slump - James Edward of the Deseret News
• Real Salt Lake in a goalkeeper crisis - MLSnet.com
• MLSnet.com Power Rankings: Week 10

RSL held an 80-minute scrimmage this morning at Rio Tinto Stadium against the Ogden Outlaws of the USL’s PDL. The match was broken into four 20-minute periods with breaks for tactical and lineup changes in between.

Real kicked things off with a bang as Javier Morales put the team’s first tally on the board less than a minute into the match. It was an impressive finish off a ball played through the box by fellow midfielder Clint Mathis. That was it for the scoring in the opening period as RSL took their 1-0 lead into the second 20 minutes.

Real kept up the offensive pressure in their home stadium and the attack paid off midway through the second period as Andy Williams found Jean Alexandre streaking through the Ogden defense and the rookie midfielder slotted home for the 2-0 lead. It didn’t take long for RSL to build further on their lead when striker Yura Movsisyan took a ball on the wing from Kyle Beckerman. Turning and running at the defense, Yura beat his defender and fired an impressive, low finish inside the far post to give his squad the 3-0 lead.

The offensive onslaught continued in the third period with Will Johnson netting a cracker and Robbie Findley getting on the board after a nice sequence with Javi. Robbie wasn’t done there though, after a very nice piece of skill, Robbie pocketed his brace about 10 minutes from time.

So that does it. RSL finished the scrimmage with a 6-0 victory and an all-around commanding performance. They’re off to DC tomorrow ahead of Saturday’s match at RFK vs. United.

With a great Memorial Day weekend on tap to kick off the summer, our merchandise crew will be closing their doors for the weekend. They’ll be back for their regular business hours starting Monday Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. See you then…

RSL has picked up a few knocks in recent weeks, as evidenced by the lengthy injury reports we’ve seen of late. The guys are all working tirelessly to get themselves fit and back on the pitch though, so we thought we’d give you a bit of a report on their progress (we’ll list the guys in order that they look prepared to return)…

• Nick Rimando - Injured just over two weeks ago in Colorado when his left hand was stepped on, opening a sizable gash in his middle finger, Nick is nearing a return. He saw the doctor this weekend and had his stitches removed on Saturday afternoon. It’s still up in the air when he’ll be in game shape, but it could be as early as this weekend, as he got a little work in during today’s training sessions. Nick looked good out there taking a few shots and performing in the majority of the keeper drills. We could certainly use him, since Saturday saw his replacement in the Starting XI go down. More on that below…
• David Horst - After an MRI following the match against the Galaxy revealed a damaged lateral meniscus, Dave underwent arthroscopic surgery on the 8th to repair the problem. After watching him running laps at training and partaking in some ballwork exercises, the second year defender looks on pace to return to full training in the next week…
• Ian Joy - Similarly, Ian looks on pace to return to full training in the next week after a troublesome hamstring injury has kept him out for the duration of the season…
• Chris Seitz - Stepping in as the team’s starting keeper for the injured Rimando, Seitz has started the previous three MLS games. A second half collision with teammate Jamison Olave on Saturday saw him suffer a right shoulder injury. Chris gutted out the remainder of the game without conceding another goal, but a post-match MRI revealed a grade 2 separation of the AC joint that will keep him out for 4-6 weeks.

That’s where we stand for now. We’ll keep you updated if anything changes…

Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis will join KALL 700 Sports hosts Bill Riley & Spencer Checketts tonight at Jerry Seiner GM (located at 1530 S. 500 West in Salt Lake City) for this week’s edition of the Rocky Mountain Chevy Dealers RSL Coach’s Corner from 6:00-7:00 p.m. MT. Fans that can’t join the fun in person this evening are invited to take part in the insightful hour covering all things RSL by calling 877-353-0700 or texting in at 29909.

We had the pleasure of welcoming Park City TV host and weekend warrior all-star Ori Hoffer at one of our training sessions at Rio Tinto Stadium a couple of weeks back. With visions of one day donning the Claret-and-Cobalt dancing in his head, we had Kyle Beckerman, Will Johnson, Chris Wingert and Nat Borchers put Ori through some of the paces of a typical practice. While we don’t know if there’s any hope of a 3-day contract in Ori’s future, we know he certainly appreciated the insight of what the players get out of practice at the top level of the sport … and the difficulty of slotting home from 25 yards out! Thanks to the guys for working out with Ori and to Mr. Hoffer for putting together the following piece chronicling his “tryout” with the squad.

• Real Salt Lake needs to find a way to score goals - James Edward of the Deseret News
• Week in Review: Late heroics abound - MLSnet.com
• MONDAY MLS BREAKDOWN: Ambitious Travels - Goal.com
• Goal.com MLS Rankings: Chicago Wins - Finally
• Goal.com’s MLS Team Of The Week: Round 9
• MLS Power Rankings (Week 9) - Soccer by Ives
• Monday Kickaround - Steven Goff’s Soccer Insider
• Week 10: Chicago unties its streak - Soccer America

This week’s RSL merchandise offer is for the young ‘uns out there. Through the rest of the week you can hit up the Team Store (NE corner of Rio Tinto Stadium or 801.727.2888) and get the infant attire picture above for just $10 (normally $16.) Now’s the time to make them an RSL fanatic for life!

Been struggling to be on time lately? No worries, so have we. Blame it on the weather, it’s too nice! Well Friday’s Real Hours present the perfect solution for your (our) problem. A slick, classy adidas/RSL watch for the bargain price of $25 (normally $55.) That’s definitely as good as you’ll find…