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Sandy • With large chunks of snow from Tuesday's snowstorm still trimming America First Field, Real Salt Lake went through its first outdoor training session of 2015 Wednesday ahead of Saturday's scheduled season opener at Providence Park against the Portland Timbers.

The ongoing labor negotiations in Washington D.C. have kept team rep Nick Rimando, Tony Beltran and Chris Schuler in the meeting rooms as the league and MLS Players Union are still working on nailing terms of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with less than 24 hours before an agreement or work stoppage will be announced.

Not surprisingly, RSL coach Jeff Cassar said missing three staples of his starting lineup — and three crucial pieces to his defense — for the days leading up to the opener isn't ideal.

"I hope they're not eating McDonalds at the table or anything," Cassar joked.

Layered up and playing in pants, gloves and beanies, players went through a frigid session that lasted about an hour and 45 minutes after not being able to get on the field yesterday as the snow blasted the Wasatch Front. There were new faces, too. Plenty of them. The infusion of youth this offseason remains on display.

RSL academy products like Jordan Allen, Sebastian Saucedo, Phanuel Kavita, Fito Ovalle, Ricardo Velazco and 2015 SuperDraft pick Boyd Okwuonu could be vying for game-day roster spots in the coming weeks before Real Monarchs officially announce their roster later this week.

"It's great to see the youth academy players coming through," Luke Mulholland said. "It shows that it's working, but at the same time, we still have a few old players and veterans on the team that are there for the younger players for guidance."

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Tuning into the Timbers • Minus Diego Valeri and Will Johnson, the Portland Timbers won't surprise RSL with any extreme tweaks, Cassar said. The home team — should a new CBA be reached and the match is played Saturday — should lean on its aggressive counter-attacking ability. Darlington Nagbe and Rodney Wallace will conceivably flank forward Fenando Adi, posing RSL's back line some potential issues.

"They're a very good team, there's several different ways they can get at you, but their dangerous players are in their attack, so we have to be very mindful of that," Cassar said.

The Timbers are thin in the central midfield as Valeri and Johnson continue to heal from major injuries suffered in 2014. Midfielder Ben Zemanski suffered a torn ACL in the preseason in a match against Vancouver in Portland. Cassar expects veteran Jack Jewsbury to slide into the holding midfield spot, possibly next to Diego Chara.

Nat Borchers could be there, too. The longtime RSL defender was traded to the Timbers the week after MLS Cup 2014.

"Adds a good solid beard to their defense," Mulholland quipped. "It's been a shame to lose Nat … We know how well he is at commanding a defense, but at the same time, it could work into our advantage knowing where his weaknesses are — if there are any weaknesses."

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Injury report • RSL is, as Cassar explained Wednesday, heading in the right direction health wise. Left back Demar Phillips, signed to replace the departed Chris Wingert, is still dealing with a lingering hamstring injury suffered two weeks ago. New midfielder Pecka is nursing a quad injury that limited his preseason in Arizona.

Cassar said a decision will be made Wednesday night regarding the availability of the two for Saturday's opener at Portland.

Midfielder John Stertzer who has a fractured toe is ahead of schedule, and Cassar said forward Joao Plata remains on track for a timely recovery after suffering a foot fracture in late January on RSL's first preseason training session of the season.

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-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani