SANDY — Sunday night’s season finale provided Utah Royals FC a chance to celebrate the past, including the retirement of three key members of the squad’s return to the Wasatch Front three years ago.
It also may have given a glimpse into the NWSL side’s future.
Paige Monaghan scored her fifth goal of the season, and Mandy McGlynn made three saves to make it stand up as the Royals wrapped up the 2025 season with a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit.
“The togetherness of this team was everything,” Monaghan said. “I’m just so grateful to be their teammate; it was such an honor.”
Lara Prasnikar — the 27-year-old midseason addition Slovenia — delivered quickly in her debut start for the Royals, finding No. 4 in the fourth minute to set up Monaghan’s fifth goal of the season and give Utah a 1-0 lead.
It’s the second straight match with a goal for Monaghan, who had a goal or an assist in five consecutive matches that paced the Royals’ club-record eight-match unbeaten streak midway through August and September.
If there’s something to build on the Royals’ 7-13-7 season, it’s Monaghan and her career-best five goals — as many as the previous two years combined.
Through the second half of the season, Utah finished with 10 results in the final 13 matches.
“We feel like if we can keep this momentum going, we can be a playoff contender,” Utah coach Jimmy Coenraets said.
“Hitting rock bottom is OK; it gives us a great foundation to end on,” he added.
It was also the year of Monaghan, who arrived in Utah via the now-defunct NWSL expansion draft as an occasional goal scorer — nine goals and an assist in four seasons with Sky Blue/Gotham FC and Racing Louisville — and became a pivotal member of the Royals’ attack, a team captain and the second-leading scorer on the team.
What started as a season on the mend from a broken foot ended with a career year: five goals, two assists in over 1,000 minutes played across 16 matches, including 14 starts.
“The belief that my teammates and coaching staff had in me, that goes a long way,” Monaghan said of her campaign. “For me, I’m a repetition player; that’s what made me good in college, what helped give me experience and exposure, what led me to U23 camp and to get drafted.
“I’ve been craving that so long in my career, but it’s just something that lacked,” she added. “This year, the Royals made hires that helped me do what I need to do every single week to get ready for the weekends.”
Most of the announced crowd of 9.170 fans weren’t there for the win-loss record, too.
In a game that was meaningless in the 14-team NWSL standings — Washington entered Sunday afternoon locked into the No. 2 seed for the playoffs, while Utah had been eliminated from the postseason and was stranded at No. 12 — Spirit coach Adrian Gonzalez started two of the state’s natives in midfielder Heather Stainbrook and attacker Courtney Brown.
Brown had more than 100 friends and family on hand to see the former Fremont High and Utah midfielder’s 15th match of the season, which she started before a halftime substitution.
Stainbrook, the former Alta High star who was Utah Valley’s all-time goal scorer when she graduated in 2023, went the distance for the Spirit.
The Royals, too, had their own celebrations to attend — their own flowers to hand out. Imani Dorsey, who came to the newly relaunched club as a free agent following the 2023 season, played the final match of her seven-year career.
The sixth player signed in Utah’s relaunched history made her first appearance since Sept. 6 in a second-half sub.
But the biggest ovation came for Claudia Zornoza, the 35-year-old Spaniard who played the final match in her 17-year career that included stops with Real Madrid and the European Champions League prior to her final two seasons in the NWSL.
The Royals also honored former BYU defender Olivia (Smith) Griffitts, who retired this season following the berth of her first child, a daughter with former BYU football tight end Kyle Griffitts.
“All players with completely different personalities,” Coenraets said of the three retirees, adding that he and Monaghan wanted Zornoza to wear the captain’s armband but the Spaniard declined. “If you look back on Claudia’s career, there aren’t a lot of players in this league who present what she presents.
“Imani is probably one of the most intelligent players I’ve ever worked with,” he added. “I’m very grateful that I was able to work with them; I hope I added something to their career, but I’m 100% certain they added something to my career.”
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