In its first ever season, Utah Royals FC Reserves defeated Fortuna Tulsa 2-1 on Sunday night in the Central Region Finals to advance to the Women’s Premier Soccer League National Championship next weekend in Oklahoma.
Lead by Head Coach Amy LePeilbet, the Reserves finished the regular season 9-1-0 to qualify for the Central Region semifinal where it was tasked with facing Fire and Ice SC a job the readily handled, coming out with a 2-0 victory. In the final the Reserves took on the undefeated Fortuna Tulsa and once again proved their strength, defeating the squad from Oklahoma 2-1.
“I'm incredibly proud of this team. It was an awesome achievement to have won the regional title! Fortuna Tulsa was a great side and it took our best to et the win,” LePeilbet said. “As a club it is great that this team has done so well. The organization has been invested in this team and the support has definitely contributed to our success.”
The first goal of the match came in the 40th minute from a corner kick with a service from Utah State midfielder Ashley Cordozo to the head of Brigham Young midfielder Mikayla Colohan.
Five minutes later in similar fashion, Colohan slammed home the second goal for the Reserves from a corner kick, however, instead of her head the midfielder used her foot by pouncing on a dropped ball from the Fortuna goalkeeper to double the lead and secure the eventual game winner.
Fortuna were able to gain back a goal in the 72nd minute, but were unable to even the score on the night.
URFC Reserves will be one of four teams advancing to the National Championship in Stillwater, OK. On Friday, July 19 Utah Royals FC Reserves will take on Motor City FC from Michigan and should they win, it will then face the winner of Sounders Women and Pensacola FC Women on July 20.
