SANDY, Utah (Saturday, March 16, 2024) – Utah Royals FC (0-1-0, 0 pts) opened the home portion of its 2024 National Women’s Soccer League campaign with an 0-2 loss.
URFC welcomed Chicago Red Stars to relaunch in front of a sell-out crowd of 20,370. The Royals started off strong connecting passes with good defensive structure. The Royals held the majority of possession and had a lot of promising attempts in the final third throughout the first 35 minutes, with the fans keeping the atmosphere rocking throughout the evening.
Chicago opened the scoring in the 50th minute, courtesy of an Ally Schlegel header. After a long throw into the box from Sam Staab, the ball bounced between Red Stars players and possession was recycled to the feet of Sam Staab popping up in the left half space. Staab then lofted a ball into the box towards the near post run of Schlegel, whose header popped over the hands of Carly Nelson and into the back of the net.
The second goal from the Red Stars came off a series of one touch passes on the wing from Maxi Rall, Mallory Swanson and Penelope Hocking. Rall then picked up the ball on her underlapping run and sprinted into the final third. Arriving in the box, Rall drove a cross into the feet of Ally Cook who laid the ball off to Ava Cook and placed the ball to the left of the keeper.
The Royals had strong performances, promising chances, loud support from the 20,370 fans in the stands and plenty of areas to fine-tune. The Royals had four players make their debuts, including NWSL Draft picks Ally Sentnor and Brecken Mozingo, as well as Agnes Nyberg and Dana Foederer.
Tonight’s loss brings the early 2024 Utah Royals season record to 0-1-0, with Royals FC welcoming the North Carolina Courage next Friday, returning to NWSL action at America First Field. Kickoff is at 7:30p MT, with tickets available at https://www.rsl.com/utahroyals/tickets/.
URFC 0 : 2 CHI
GOAL-SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI: Ally Schlegel, 50th Minute (Sam Staab): After recycling possession from a long throw, Sam Staab lofted a ball from the left half space into the box, Ally Schlegel placed a header over the hands of Carly Nelson dropping into the back of the goal.
CHI: Ava Cook, 77th Minute : Chicago Red Stars charged down the right wing, drawing out two defenders with quick one touch passes. Maxi Rall picked up the ball and drove into the attack and fired a cross into the feet of Ally Cook who laid off the ball to Ava Cook who positioned her shot into the right side of the goal.
LINEUPS:
Utah Royals (4-3-3): Carly Nelson; Imani Dorsey, Kate Del Fava,Kaleigh Riehl, Madison Pogarch; Agnes Nyberg (Cam Tucker 70’), Frankie tagliaferri (Brecken Mozingo
69’), Dana Foederer; Paige Monaghan © (Ify Onumonu 88”), Hannah Betfort, Ally Sentnor
Subs not used: Cristina Roque, Addisyn Merrick, Mikayla Cluff, Emily Gray, Lauren Flynn, Michele Vasconcelos
Chicago Red Stars (4-2-3-1): Alyssa Naeher ©; Taylor Malham, Sam Staab, Natalia Kuikka, Maxi Rall; Cari Roccaro, Julia Bianchi, Nadia Gomes (Ally Cook 61’); Mallory Swanson(Jenna Bike 81’), Ally Schlegel (Ava Cook 61’), Penelope Hocking ( Sarah Griffith 90+4’)
Subs not used: Mackenzie Wood, Tatumn Milazzo, Hannah Anderson, Elizabeth Franklin, Leilanni Nesbeth
Stats Summary: URFC / CHI
Shots: 19 / 10
Shots on Goal: 5 / 4
Saves: 2 / 5
Corner Kicks: 6 / 5
Fouls: 7 / 10
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
URFC: Yellow (Sentnor, 44’);Yellow (Nyberg, 62’) 7 Total Fouls
CHI: Yellow (Hocking , 60’), Yellow (Ava Cook 90+6’) 10 Total Fouls
