HOUSTON, Texas (Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024) - Utah Royals (4-3-11, 15 pts) marked the continuation of the Club’s NWSL duties with a duly impressive, well-fought 3-1 win away against the Houston Dash at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday night.
Captain Paige Monaghan netted her second goal of the domestic season, in a second consecutive game, to put the visitors ahead, and midfielders Ana Tejada, and Claudia Zornoza both added further gloss to the scoreline as the Blue-and-Gold made it four straight wins as well as four wins in six games under interim head coach Jimmy Coenraets.
URFC endured an early scare in the game after the hosts fortuitously had the ball in the Royals' net within only the opening 12 minutes. However, the goal was subsequently chalked off for offside during the buildup and the match remained scoreless.
The first 25 minutes proved a mostly tight, cagey affair with both teams fighting to assert themselves and establish dominance, and largely canceling each other out in the process.
The Royals eventually began to dominate more areas of the game and fully assert itself on its opponents, and deservedly took the lead on the cusp of halftime, in the 44th minute, through an effectively taken set-piece. An out-swinging corner from Cloe Lacasse was flicked on at the near post by Mina Tanaka towards Kaleigh Riehl, in the middle of the box, whose fierce first-time header was saved by Jane Campbell before rebounding out to Tejada who met the ball with an even more powerful first time left-footed strike to give the visitors the lead.
With halftime drawing precariously close, goalkeeper Mandy Haught was called into crucial action in the final minutes of stoppage time when Houston forward Michelle Alozie found herself one-on-one with URFC’s world-class shot-stopper. However, Haught positioned herself perfectly to pull off a breathtaking save to deny the Nigerian international and keep the visitors’ lead intact.
New signing Lacasse managed to dribble her way into the Houston penalty area before being brought down near the edge presenting URFC with a glorious opportunity from the spot. Fellow new signing Zornoza stepped up as the designated penalty taker and finished with aplomb, arrowing a powerful, low left-footed effort which flew into the bottom right corner for the Spanish international’s first goal in Blue-and-Gold. The penalty represented URFC’s first spot kick won this season in its 18 games played thus far.
Two quickly became three for Utah just five minutes later with Zornoza yet again at the heart of things. Winning possession deep in her defensive half, the 33-year-old picked up the ball behind the halfway line before spotting and playing a sublime through ball in behind for Captain Monaghan to run onto and in turn dribble her way unchallenged into the Houston penalty area before burying a low, accurate left-footed effort into the bottom right corner.
With the game already well-accounted for at that point, the hosts did eventually manage to grab a late consolation, but it would only prove to be that, and serve as yet another win for Jimmy Coenraets’ confident, swashbuckling Utah Royals team.
Tonight’s victory represents URFC’s second away win of the campaign and the first time the team has won consecutive games in the league this season. It also represents the team’s fourth straight win in all competitions since new interim head coach Jimmy Coenraets took over back in mid-July. During this time the Royals have now scored 15 goals and conceded merely seven in the six games under the 29-year-old’s astute stewardship.
The Royals are back in action next Saturday, September 7, away at KC Current. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 pm MT. URFC currently sit only six points behind the current playoffs line. The team will return home to America First Field on Saturday, Sept. 14, for a meeting with the San Diego wave. Kickoff for this contest is 8 PM MT.
UTA 3 : 1 HOU
GOALSCORING SUMMARY:
UTA: Ana Tejada (Unassisted) 44’: An out-swinging corner from Cloe Lacasse was flicked on at the near post by Mina Tanaka towards Kaleigh Riehl, in the middle of the box, whose fierce first-time header was saved by Jane Campbell before rebounding out to Ana Tejada at the far post who met the ball with an even more powerful first time left-footed strike which narrowly crossed the line to give the visitors the lead.
UTA: Claudia Zornoza (Penalty) 55’: Cloe Lacasse managed to dribble her way into the Houston penalty area before being unlawfully brought down near the edge presenting URFC with a glorious opportunity. New signing Zornoza stepped up as the designated penalty taker and finished with aplomb with a powerful, low left-footed effort which flew into the bottom right corner for the Spanish international’s first goal in URFC colors
UTA: Paige Monaghan (Claudia Zornoza) 60’: Winning possession deep in her defensive half, Zornoza picked up the ball behind the halfway line before spotting and playing a sublime through ball in behind for Captain Paige Monaghan to run onto who in turn dribbled her way unchallenged into the Houston penalty area before burying a low, accurate left-footed effort into the bottom right corner.
HOU: Andressa Alves (Natalie Jacobs): 73’: Natalie Jacobs played a lofted, well-weighed through ball over the top of the URFC defense to find Andressa Alves’ running in behind who in turn managed to round an onrushing Mandy Haught before tapping into an empty net.
LINEUPS:
Utah Royals FC (4-3-3): Mandy Haught; Olivia Griffitts, Kate Del Fava, Kaleigh Riehl, Madison Pogarch (Z. Burns, 83’); Claudia Zornoza, Ana Tejada, Mina Tanaka; Cloe Lacasse (D. Foederer, 62’), Hannah Betfort (M. Vasconcelos, 88’), Paige Monaghan
Subs not used: Cristina Roque, Mikayla Cluff, Amandine Henry, Agnes Nyberg, Cameron Tucker
Houston Dash (4-2-3-1): J. Campbell; N. Jacobs, Tarciane, P. Nielsen, A. Patterson; S. Schmidt (S. Puntigam, 62’), E. Rubensson; Y. Nagasato (D. Ordonez, 62’), Andressa Alves, B. Olivieri (B. Briede, 83’); M. Alozie
Subs not used: Heather Hinz, Allysha Chapman, Jyllissa Harris, Croix Soto, Havana Solaun,
Stats Summary: UTA / HOU
Possession: 47% / 53%
Shots: 21 / 16
Shots on Goal: 9 / 5
Corner Kicks: 5 / 9
Fouls: 14 / 15
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
UTA: Mina Tanaka (Yellow card, 90’+7’), Ana Tejada (Yellow card, 90’+12’). 14 total fouls
HOU: N. Jacobs (Yellow card, 18’), M. Alozie (Yellow card, 45’+4’), B. Olivieri (Yellow card, 54’), P. Nielsen (Yellow card, 72’). 15 total fouls
