It was a night to remember at America First Field on August 31, as Real Salt Lake hosted Minnesota United for the club's Kick Childhood Cancer Night featuring a variety of initiatives to bring awareness to childhood cancer.
Leading up to the match, RSL defender Justen Glad and Tate Schmitt made a trip to the local children's hospital, where they met with patients and shared gifts. Ahead of the game against Minnesota, the club invited 20 children who were either fighting cancer or had fought cancer to walk out with the players for the National Anthem.
On matchday, the children were given a special pre-game locker room experience and paired with a RSL player to walk onto the field with, and given jerseys with the name of their matched player.
The game itself featured an especially memorable scene, as RSL took a 3-0 victory, with a special celebration from the home fans following the opening goal from Sergio Cordova. As Cordova celebrated the goal, the RSL faithful showered the field with teddy bears, 3,000 of which were collected and will be donated to local charities.
“It was very beautiful,” Cordova told the official club website. “I wasn’t really expecting it, but it was a very cool moment for the players on the field as well as everyone in the stadium.”
For the whole recap of RSL's Kick Childhood Cancer Night, check out this feature from RSL.com's Johnny Keeley.
