SANDY, Utah (Wednesday, July 31, 2024) - Utah Royals FC (2-1-0, 6 pts, 1st in Group A) defeat Club Tijuana (1-2-0, 3pts, 4th in Group A) 5-1 in its group stage finale of the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup at America First Field.
Back-to-back wins for the Royals fly to the top of Group A with 6 points. Portland Thorns tied with Utah in points but Utah’s higher goal differential (+5) breaks the tie. URFC awaits tomorrow and Friday's results in the final days of group play to find out if it qualifies for the semi-final round.
The hosts went down early conceding in the third minute failing to recover from an offensive turnover. Tijuana’s Aisha Solorzano found the net for her fourth goal of the tournament. The goal would be tied for the second fastest conceded goal in club history only trailing Tobin Heath’s goal in the second minute in the twelfth game of URFC history back in 2018.
Capitan Paige Monaghan opened up the scoring in the 20th minute scoring her first goal in the blue-and-gold. Despite finding the back of the net for the first time the captain has contributed to multiple goal scoring series notching three assists in all competitions thus far.
Goals in back-to-back games from Hannah Betfort and Ally Sentnor extended the Royals lead before the break. Sentnor’s form continues to impress, notching her fifth of the year in all competitions.
Rookie Brecken Mozingo shined in the second half, scoring her first professional goal in the 64th minute only to score a second in the 90+5th minute. Mozingo notches the first brace of the second iteration of the Return of Royalty en route to player of the match honors.
Utah will face Crystal Palace Women’s on August 16th in a friendly match before URFC returns to NWSL play in stride looking to narrow the point differential between it and the playoff line (9). The Royals host expansion club sibling Bay FC on Friday, August 23, at America First Field. Kickoff is at 7:30 PM MT, with tickets available at https://www.utahroyals.com/tickets/
UTA 5 : 1 TIJ
GOAL-SCORING SUMMARY:
TIJ: Aisha Solórzano (Unassisted) 3’: Early in the game and against the run of play, Club Tijuana won the ball deep in their own half, launching a counterattack from a Royals corner which went all the way to the penalty area and was ultimately intercepted by Cristina Roque, under pressure from Aisha Solórzano, but Roque’s interception unfortunately deflected off the Tijuana striker and back into space right in front of an open goal for a tap in to put the visitors in front.
UTA: Paige Monaghan (Ally Sentnor) 20’: From a turnover in midfield, Kate De Fava played a header to Ally Sentnor who took a single touch to lay the ball off for Paige Monaghan, who in turn took on her opposing defender, dribbling on the outside of her and into the visitors’ penalty box before unleashing a low right-footed strike which took a touch off González Aguilar before going in off the bar to establish parity in the contest.
UTA: Hannah Betfort (Unassisted) 44’: From another turnover, this time high up in the visitors’ half. Hannah Betfort won possession back for URFC deep in the Tijuana half and right outside the penalty area before taking a couple of touches inside and then unleashing a fierce, low dipping shot to Aguilar’s near-post and into the bottom corner to give the Royals the lead for the first time on the night.
UTA: Ally Sentnor (Dana Foederer) 48’: Dana Foederer assumed possession of the ball high up in midfield before releasing a square pass to find Sentnor in the left half space who in turn took a couple of steps forward before unleashing one of her trademark left-footed rockets into the bottom right corner.
UTA: Brecken Mozingo (Dana Foederer) 64’: A well worked goal from back to front. Foederer again picked up the ball deep in the Royals half and embarked on an impressive 20-yard run before playing a delightful, perfectly weighed through lob forward to find Brecken Mozingo who took the ball in her stride before first cutting inside, then outside of her opposing defender and then burying a low, placed right-footed effort past Aguilar and into the bottom right corner for a record-breaking URFC fourth goal of the game.
UTA: Brecken Mozingo (Shaelan Murison) 95’: Shaelan Murison received the ball high up the field on the right before playing a pass to find Brecken on her left who took a touch before dribbling outside of her opposing defender and then rocketing another low left-footed effort into the bottom corner for her second of the game and URFC’s fifth of a record-breaking victory.
LINEUPS:
Utah Royals FC (4-3-3): Cristina Roque; Madison Pogarch (A. Merrick, 81’), Kate Del Fava (A. Nyberg, 46’), Kaleigh Riehl, Olivia Griffitts (Z. Burns, 62’); Ana Tejada, Dana Foederer, Ally Sentnor; Paige Monaghan © (M. Vasconcelos, 62’), Hannah Betfort (S. Murison, 72’), Brecken Mozingo
Subs not used: Mandy Haught, Ellie Boren, Mikayla Cluff, Darielle O’Brien
Club Tijuana (4-2-3-1): Itzayana Gonzalez Aguilar; Karen Diaz, Sofia Martinez (F. Villalobos, 46’), Monica Alvarado, Bibiana Quintos (D. Carrandi, 53’); Ammanda Marroquin (M. Cox, 53’), Daniela Espinosa (I. Hernandez, 46’), Natividad Martinez (M. Munguia, 69’); Melissa Herrera, Mayra Pelayo, Aisha Solorzano
Subs not used: Alejandra Gutierrez, Iraida Fernandez, Bianca De La Torre, Michel Fong
Stats Summary: UTA / TIJ
Possession: 59% / 41%
Shots: 28 / 7
Shots on Goal: 10 / 2
Corner Kicks: 12 / 2
Fouls: 12 / 13
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
UTA: P. Monaghan (Yellow Card, 18’), M. Pogarch (Yellow Card, 26’), Ana Tejada (Yellow Card, 80’). 12 total fouls
TIJ: A. Marroquin (Yellow Card, 49’), M. Cox (Yellow Card, 58’), K. Diaz (Yellow Card, 63’), F. Villalobos (Yellow Card, 76’). 12 total fouls
