HERRIMAN, Utah (Wednesday, August 16, 2023) – Real Monarchs (6-12-4, 22 points, 12th in West) travel to Carson, California to face LA Galaxy II (4-13-5, 20 points, 13th in West) at Dignity Health Sports Park with a late kickoff set for 8:30 p.m. MT. The Monarchs in their last two matches are unbeaten having drawn with both San Jose Earthquakes II and North Texas SC at Zions Bank Stadium. Saturday’s matchup with Galaxy II will be the second meeting between these two teams this year, having met previously in June where Real Monarchs drew 3-3 and won the following shootout 5-4.
On Matchday 22, Real Monarchs faced North Texas SC where they were able to make a late comeback to sneak out a draw. During the first-half the Monarchs and North Texas exchanged multiple looks in front of goal but it would be the Texas side who would draw blood first in the 32nd minute. North Texas’s Jose Mulato beat multiple defenders and was able to barely sneak a shot past a sliding **Jude Wellings** and diving Derrek Chan to find the back of the net. Determined not to suffer another defeat at Zions Bank Stadium, Real Monarchs began to mount a comeback in the second half. Both Keller Strolie and Zavier Gozo had excellent looks at goal, but none of their chances would prove fruitful due to the imposing rearguard of North Texas. In the final minutes of added time the Monarchs were awarded a free kick which Griffin Dillon swung into the box to connect with **Ilijah Paul** who headed the ball into goal to send the match to kicks from the penalty mark. In the shootout Chan would prove phenomenal making the save which allowed the Monarchs to take the extra point defeating North Texas SC 4-2 in the shootout.
Real Monarchs vs LA Galaxy II Preview
The twelfth all-time meeting between Real Monarchs and LA Galaxy II in May 2023 proved to be an eventful and high scoring affair with neither team able to gain an advantage over the other as the match drew to a close at 3-3. The match between these two sides in May was the first MLS NEXT Pro meeting between the Monarchs and Galaxy II having previously played each other a total of 11 times in the USL Championship, but neither side was able to find victory.
The Monarchs this season have shown impressive form while playing on the road posting a 5W-6L-0D record and will look to upset LA Galaxy II as they try to claim three points to have an outside shot at the playoffs. Real Monarchs sit only nine points outside of the seventh playoff spot in the West and if they are to make the playoffs must win out the remaining six matches on their schedule, four of which are away from Zions Bank Stadium. Having snuck away with a draw against North Texas SC the Monarchs will look to gain a positive result in their match against Galaxy II as the team has a posted a 3W-3L-1D record in matches after a draw.
Up Next: Real Monarchs will remain in Southern California taking on LAFC2 on Friday, August 25 at Titan Stadium with kickoff set for 8:00 p.m. MT. After their stint of games in California the Monarchs will head back home to face Vancouver Whitecaps 2 on September 1st. Tickets to all Real Monarchs home matches including the match on September 1st can be found at https://www.rsl.com/monarchs/tickets/. If viewing matches remotely, Real Monarchs games can be streamed either via Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass or through https://www.mlsnextpro.com.
