CARY, N.C. — As longtime soccer broadcaster JP Dellacamera astutely observed near the final whistle of Saturday’s match in North Carolina: this was a game the Utah Royals would have lost earlier this season.
A lightning delay, a goal denied due to a handball, and a late penalty for the opponent would’ve spelled disaster for the Utah team that lost seven of eight games in May and June. But, somehow, the post-summer Royals found a way to rally and get a valuable point on the road in a 1-1 draw against the North Carolina Courage.
The game was decided almost entirely in the final 15 minutes, as Utah defender Kaleigh Riehl was called for a penalty and Jaedyn Shaw converted the chance off the crossbar to lead 1-0 in the 89th minute.
Ten minutes of stoppage time allowed the Royals some extra opportunities, with captain Paige Monaghan taking advantage of a botched corner kick in the 94th minute for the 1-1 result.
“I think it was a huge step for us,” head coach Jimmy Coenraets said of the draw. “I think we’re stepping on the pitch now to win games, really wanting to win the games, and we’re creating opportunities in different ways. I think that’s something to be proud about.”
It was the second goal in as many games for Monaghan, with both coming in spectacular fashion. Last week’s against Portland came on a flick over a defender at the edge of the box, while Saturday’s equalizer was a half-volley rocket into the top netting off a rebounded shot by Kate Del Fava on a Brecken Mozingo corner.
“That’s always been Paige,” Del Fava said of the two-goal run. “She’s had a tough year with injuries and just working back into form. It takes time, but once you start feeling good on the pitch, then good things happen. Put yourself in a good position, and yeah, two really good goals. So, we’re so happy for her.”
Del Fava, who served as interim captain at times during Monaghan’s absence, said the team has been “getting better and better each week,” and their current four-game unbeaten streak backs that up.
While not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs just yet, the 13th-place Royals would have to double their current total of 12 points in just seven remaining games and hope at least three teams above them go winless just to sniff the top eight that make the postseason.
One thing fans can look forward to over the final seven games, however, is the arrival of Slovenian striker Lara Prasnikar from the German Bundesliga in what was reported to be the largest outgoing sale in league history.
Prasnikar, who would be the first Slovenian player in NWSL history, was announced by the Royals as a new signing on Aug. 31 ahead of the European transfer deadline. She is waiting for her visa to be processed before being able to take the pitch for Utah, but Coenraets said she is preparing to play as soon as that happens.
“She’s doing what she needs to do,” Coenraets said. “She’s getting herself ready for the minutes that we’ll be able to give her the second her visa is done, so I think it’s just patiently waiting until the visa is ready.”
The 27-year-old native of Celje, Slovenia, has spent the majority of her career in Germany between Turbine Potsdam and Eintracht Frankfurt. She put up 49 goals in 134 appearances for Frankfurt over the last five seasons and also has 37 goals in 60 appearances for the Slovenian national team.
The Royals return to Utah next for a pair of home matches at America First Field against the Houston Dash on Sunday, Sept. 14, and Racing Louisville on Friday, Sept. 19.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.ksl.com ’
