The long road of Real Monarchs SLC’s inaugural season comes to a close on Saturday with the expansion USL club hosting Arizona United SC at Rio Tinto Stadium. It will be a bittersweet conclusion for the Monarchs, who are riding a four-game winning streak into the last match, but early-season struggles and difficulty finding results on the road have kept Real Salt Lake’s USL affiliate from finding greater success in the first season.
On one hand, the Monarchs are on a four-match winning streak with a 5-3-5 record at Rio Tinto Stadium, where the club sixth in the league in home attendance and first among MLS-connected clubs. On the other hand, the 1-10-3 record on the road doomed it to a view outside the playoff picture. Despite that, Head Coach Freddy Juarez has loved the progress made by the players that have developed over the course of the year while playing the game his way.
“We feel good. I think throughout the season there has been a big part of the season where we felt good. I know it’s hard for people to believe because you look at the table and you don’t see a whole lot of Ws. Results can sometimes be an illusion. If you win, guys think we’re playing good, but if you lose and you really did have a good game, it can be hard to convince them that you did,” Juarez said Friday.
That good play, which has been present for the Monarchs through most of the season but hasn’t produced wins, has helped the team build its way to the current four-match winning streak – the reward finally coming in the way or results.
“There’s been some good football that has resulted in closing out matches,” Juarez said of the current streak. “We’ve created more chances, got more goals and we’ve done a lot of that throughout the year – obviously not scoring the goals, that’s why we didn’t win the games. But we’ve played some good football.”
The Monarchs were built this season with many players without prior professional experience. That youth and inexperience has meant some have had to adjust on the fly to the rigors of the pro game. Now with nearly a full season under their belts, those young players have made the proper adjustments and the experience is paying off.
“People talk about the game being the teacher. You train and the game is the exam every weekend. It’s critical for those guys to be in that environment and it can’t be replicated unless it’s a game in that atmosphere,” Juarez said.
RSL’s match with Arizona United SC kicks off at 4 p.m. MT with live television coverage on KMYU locally and a live stream on RealMonarchs.com. Tickets are still available at RealMonarchs.com and at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office.
