We often hear the phrase a rising tide raises all boats. The Utah Royals tide is rising thanks to the summer signings of Claudia Zornoza, Mina Tanaka, and Cloé Lacasse. These player focal points provide opportunities for other players to make plays. Improving the quality of the team from position 1 to position 20.
With the new players coming in, Cloé Lacasse has been a standout. Having made 270 professional appearances and scoring 179 goals across all competitions she comes in with lots of experience and a prowess for putting the ball in the back of the net. Against the San Diego Wave, Lacasse led the team in shots (4) and shots on target (2).
The key moment of the game is Cloé’s goal in the 59th minute. After Wave Defender, Naomi Girma cleared the ball from the wave defensive third to midfield. After a 50/50 the ball ends up at the feet of Dana Foederer who quickly finds Lacasse at the top of the box. Taking two touches to find the space to shoot and pings a ball off the upright and into the back of the net.
An underappreciated aspect of Cloé is how she draws in defenders, and if there are people putting pressure on her, then there should be time and space for another Royals player to exploit. Interim manager Jimmy Coenraets, rightfully highlighted an example of this with a play where Cloé’s combination play with Claudia drew in the Wave and gave Paige Monaghan space on the wing and an opportunity to go 1v1 at the Wave defenders.
Big Time Players produce Big Time moments and the goal is an excellent example of a big player making a big play to put the royals back in the game. A win is a win, a loss is a loss, but there is no denying that this team has quality. The Royals tide is rising, are you in the boat?
