2018 Utah Royals FC season

The 2018 Utah Royals FC season was the team's inaugural season, and its first in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top division of women's soccer in the United States.^[1][2]

Utah Royals FC

2018 season
Owner	Dell Loy Hansen
Head coach	Laura Harvey
Stadium	Rio Tinto Stadium
NWSL	5th
Top goalscorer	Katie Stengel (6)
Highest home attendance	19,203 (Apr 14 vs. CHI)
Lowest home attendance	7,137 (May 9 vs. ORL)
Average home league attendance	9,466
Home colors Away colors
2019 →

Background

Main article: Utah Royals FC

Non-competitive

Preseason

Utah Royals FC v BYU

March 3, 2018 Friendly	Utah Royals FC	v	BYU	Herriman, Utah
				Stadium: Zions Bank Stadium

UCLA v Utah Royals FC

March 16, 2018 Friendly	UCLA	1–4	Utah Royals FC	Los Angeles, California
9 AM PT	Sheehan 81'	Report	Ratcliffe 10' (Jonsdottir) Matheson 27' (pen.) Kelly 62' Tymrak 88' (Jonsdottir)	Stadium: Frank Marshall Field

Competitions

NWSL regular season

Main article: 2018 National Women's Soccer League season

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	North Carolina Courage (C)	24	17	6	1	53	17	+36	57	NWSL Shield
2	Portland Thorns FC	24	12	6	6	40	28	+12	42	NWSL Playoffs
3	Seattle Reign FC	24	11	8	5	27	19	+8	41
4	Chicago Red Stars	24	9	10	5	38	28	+10	37
5	Utah Royals FC	24	9	8	7	22	23	−1	35
6	Houston Dash	24	9	5	10	35	39	−4	32
7	Orlando Pride	24	8	6	10	30	37	−7	30
8	Washington Spirit	24	2	5	17	12	35	−23	11
9	Sky Blue FC	24	1	6	17	21	52	−31	9

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(C) Champions

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
24	35	9	7	8	22	23	−1	5	3	4	11	7	+4	4	4	4	11	16	−5

Last updated: September 8, 2018
Source: NWSLsoccer.com
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; T = Matches tied; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Stadium	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	H	A	A	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H
Result	D	D	L	D	D	W	D	W	L	W	W	L	D	W	L	L	L	D	W	W	L	D	W	W
Position[a]	4	5	7	7	7	6	7	6	7	6	5	6	5	5	6	6	6	7	6	6	6	6	5	5

Updated to match(es) played on September 8, 2018. Source: NWSLsoccer.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

1. UTA's position at the end of the matchweek, not the match itself.

Match results

March

Orlando Pride v Utah Royals FC

Sat 24 March 1	Orlando Pride	1–1	Utah Royals FC	Orlando, Florida
7:30 PM ET	Marta 21' (pen.) Krieger  90+3'	Report	Jónsdóttir 3' (Matheson) Sauerbrunn  21' Ratcliffe  58'	Stadium: Orlando City Stadium Attendance: 9,017 Referee: Danielle Chesky

Houston Dash v Utah Royals FC

Fri 30 March 2	Houston Dash	0–0	Utah Royals FC	Houston, Texas
7 PM CT		Report		Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 3,433

April

Utah Royals FC v Chicago Red Stars

Sat 14 April 3	Utah Royals FC	0–1	Chicago Red Stars	Sandy, Utah
1:30 PM MT		Report	Colaprico 27'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 19,203
Note: Televised on Lifetime.

North Carolina Courage v Utah Royals FC

Sat 21 April 4	North Carolina Courage	2–2	Utah Royals FC	Cary, North Carolina
3:30 PM ET	Mathias 6' Hamilton  17' Dunn 80' Dahlkemper  87'	Report	Ratcliffe  28' 66' Stengel 52'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,958 Referee: Jon Fremon
Note: Televised on Lifetime.

Utah Royals FC v Portland Thorns FC

Sat 28 April 5	Utah Royals FC	1–1	Portland Thorns FC	Sandy, Utah
7 PM MT	Rodriguez 53' Jonsdottir  49' Scott  85'	Report	Heath 67' (Sinclair) Purce  36'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 8,446

May

Utah Royals FC v Washington Spirit

Sat 5 May 6	Utah Royals FC	2–0	Washington Spirit	Sandy, Utah
7 PM MT	O’Hara 7' Sauerbrunn  15' Matheson 66'	Report	Smith  72'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 7,551 Referee: Reyna Fonseca

Utah Royals FC v Orlando Pride

Wed 9 May 7	Utah Royals FC	0–0	Orlando Pride	Sandy, Utah
7 PM MT	Gorry  86'	Report		Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 7,137

Utah Royals FC v Houston Dash

Sat 19 May 8	Utah Royals FC	1–0	Houston Dash	Sandy, Utah
1:30 PM MT	Elby  9' Tymrak 51' Matheson  55'	Report	Daly  12'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 8,323 Referee: Eric Tattersall
Note: Televised on Lifetime.

Portland Thorns FC v Utah Royals FC

Fri 25 May 9	Portland Thorns FC	2–0	Utah Royals FC	Portland, Oregon
	Sinclair 18' Horan 39',  67'	Report	Corsie  69' Jónsdóttir  83'	Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 15,113 Referee: Lukasz Szpala

June

Sky Blue FC v Utah Royals FC

Sat 2 June 10	Sky Blue FC	1–2	Utah Royals FC	Piscataway, New Jersey
7 PM ET	Groom 10' Tiernan  92+'	Report	Matheson 3' Freeman 85' (o.g.)	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 2,229 Referee: Lorant Varga

North Carolina Courage v Utah Royals FC

Sat 16 June 11	North Carolina Courage	0–1	Utah Royals FC	Cary, North Carolina
7 PM ET		Report	Scott  26' Ratcliffe 90+4'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,164

Chicago Red Stars v Utah Royals FC

Sat 23 June 12	Chicago Red Stars	2–0	Utah Royals FC	Bridgeview, Illinois
7 PM ET	Naughton 62' (Colaprico) DiBernardo 70' (Kerr) Nagasato  87'	Report		Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 3,317 Referee: Natalie Simon

Utah Royals FC v Seattle Reign FC

Wed 27 June 13	Utah Royals FC	0–0	Seattle Reign FC	Sandy, Utah
8 PM MT		Report	Catley  59'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 8,504

Utah Royals FC v Sky Blue FC

Sat 30 June 14	Utah Royals FC	3–1	Sky Blue FC	Sandy, Utah
8 PM MT	Press 7' Stengel 25' (Press), 29' (Gorry)	Report	Lloyd 62' (Dorsey)	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 8,394

July

Portland Thorns FC v Utah Royals FC

Fri 6 July 15	Portland Thorns FC	4–0	Utah Royals FC	Portland, Oregon
8 PM PT	Heath 2' (Crnogorčević) Horan 32' (Heath) Crnogorčević 34' Lussi 62' (Horan)	Report	Johnson  31' Matheson  45'	Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 17, 930

Seattle Reign FC v Utah Royals FC

Wed 11 July 16	Seattle Reign FC	1–0	Utah Royals FC	Seattle, Washington
7:30 PM PT	Long  45+2' Rapinoe 54' (Catley)	Report	Johnson  12' Corsie  45+2' Jónsdótti  66'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium (Seattle) Attendance: 3,191

Utah Royals FC v Orlando Pride

Sat 14 July 17	Utah Royals FC	1–2	Orlando Pride	Sandy, Utah
5:00 PM PT	Rodriguez 8' (Corsie)	Report	Hill  24' Morgan 45+2' (pen.) Edmonds 52' (Krieger) Kennedy  68' Ubogagu  75' Camila  89'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 8,761
Note: Televised on ESPNews.

Utah Royals FC v North Carolina Courage

Fri 20 July 18	Utah Royals FC	0–0	North Carolina Courage	Sandy, Utah
8 PM PT		Report		Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 8,529 Referee: Christina Unkel

August

Houston Dash v Utah Royals FC

Sun 5 August 19	Houston Dash	1–2	Utah Royals FC	Houston, Texas
7:30 PM CT	Latsko 41' (Huerta) Huerta  48'	Report	Press 77' Stengel 83' (Tymrak)	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 3,907

Utah Royals FC v Washington Spirit

Wed 8 August 20	Utah Royals FC	1–0	Washington Spirit	Sandy, Utah
8 PM MT	Stengel 74' (Lytle)	Report		Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 8,154

Utah Royals FC v Seattle Reign FC

Sat 11 August 21	Utah Royals FC	0–1	Seattle Reign FC	Sandy, Utah
1:30 PM MT	Fishlock 48' (Oyster)  74'	Report	Moros  90'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 8,740
Note: Televised on Lifetime.

Sky Blue FC v Utah Royals FC

Sat 18 August 22	Sky Blue FC	2–2	Utah Royals FC	Piscataway, New Jersey
7 PM ET	Johnson 14' (Rodriguez), 48' Killion  39' Lloyd  69' Tiernan  76'	Report	Richardson 58' (o.g.) Rodriguez 90+4' (Press)	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 3,468

Washington Spirit v Utah Royals FC

Wed 22 August 23	Washington Spirit	0–1	Utah Royals FC	Boyds, Maryland
7:30 PM ET		Report	Rodriguez 12' Corsie  17'	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,318

September

Utah Royals FC v Chicago Red Stars

Sat 8 September 24	Utah Royals FC	2–1	Chicago Red Stars	Sandy, Utah
1:30 PM MT	Rodriguez 55' (Bowen) Stengel 64' (Lytle)	Report	Gilliland  17' Stanton  25' Kerr 39' (Gilliland)	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 11,851 Referee: Rosendo Mendoza

Stats

As of September 8, 2018.^[3]

Goals Rank Player Nation Goals 1 Katie Stengel 6 2 Amy Rodriguez 5 3 Diana Matheson 2 Brittany Ratcliffe 2 Christen Press 2 5 Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir 1 Kelley O'Hara 1 Erika Tymrak 1

Assists Rank Player Nation Assists 1 Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir 2 Christen Press 2 Taylor Lytle 2 4 Rachel Corsie 1 Katrina Gorry 1 Diana Matheson 1 Amy Rodriguez 1 Erika Tymrak 1 Katie Bowen 1

Shutouts Rank Player Nation Shutouts 1 Abby Smith 6 2 Nicole Barnhart 3

Honors and awards

NWSL season awards

See also: NWSL awards

• Defender of the Year: Becky Sauerbrunn^[4]
• Best XI: Becky Sauerbrunn^[5]

NWSL Team of the Month

Main article: NWSL Team of the Month

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref.
March		Becky Sauerbrunn	Gunnhildur Jonsdottir		[6]
April		Becky Sauerbrunn			[7]
May	Abby Smith	Becky Sauerbrunn			[8]
June		Becca Moros Becky Sauerbrunn			[9]
July		Rachel Corsie			[10]

NWSL weekly awards

Goal of the Week

Main article: NWSL Goal of the Week § 2018

Week	Result	Player	Ref.
1	Won	Gunnhildur Jonsdottir	[11]
4	Nominated	Brittany Ratcliffe	[12]
5	Nominated	Amy Rodriguez	[13]
6	Won	Diana Matheson	[14]
8	Nominated	Erika Tymrak	[15]
11/12	Won	Brittany Ratcliffe	[16]
19	Won	Katie Stengel	[17]
20	Nominated	Katie Stengel	[18]
21	Nominated	Amy Rodriguez	[19]
24	Nominated	Amy Rodriguez	[20]

Save of the Week

Main article: NWSL Save of the Week § 2018

Week	Result	Player(s)	Ref.
5	Nominated	Abby Smith	[21]
9	Nominated	Abby Smith and Becky Sauerbrunn	[22]
16	Won	Rachel Corsie	[23]
17	Won	Rachel Corsie	[24]
20	Nominated	Abby Smith	[25]
24	Won	Nicole Barnhart	[26]

Club

Roster

As of July 20, 2018.^[27][28] Age calculated as of the start of the 2018 season. All players were in their first year with the club and signed in 2018.

No.	Name	Nat.	Pos.	Date of birth (age)	Previous team
1	Abby Smith	USA	GK	(1993-10-04)October 4, 1993 (aged 24)	Boston Breakers
2	Rachel Corsie	SCO	DF	(1989-08-17)August 17, 1989 (aged 28)	Seattle Reign
3	Rebecca Moros	USA	DF	(1985-05-06)May 6, 1985 (aged 32)	FC Kansas City
4	Becky Sauerbrunn	USA	DF	(1985-06-06)June 6, 1985 (aged 32)	FC Kansas City
5	Kelley O'Hara	USA	DF	(1988-08-04)August 4, 1988 (aged 29)	Sky Blue FC
6	Katie Bowen	NZL	DF	(1994-04-15)April 15, 1994 (aged 23)	FC Kansas City
7	Mandy Laddish	USA	MF	(1992-05-13)May 13, 1992 (aged 25)	FC Kansas City
8	Amy Rodriguez	USA	FW	(1987-02-17)February 17, 1987 (aged 31)	FC Kansas City
9	Lo'eau LaBonta	USA	MF	(1993-03-18)March 18, 1993 (aged 25)	FC Kansas City
10	Diana Matheson	CAN	MF	(1984-04-06)April 6, 1984 (aged 34)	Seattle Reign FC
11	Desiree Scott	CAN	MF	(1987-07-31)July 31, 1987 (aged 30)	FC Kansas City
12	Taylor Lytle	USA	MF	(1989-03-31)March 31, 1989 (aged 29)	Sky Blue FC
13	Makenzy Doniak	USA	FW	(1994-02-25)February 25, 1994 (aged 24)	North Carolina Courage
14	Alex Arlitt	USA	DF	(1993-08-25)August 25, 1993 (aged 24)	FC Kansas City
15	Erika Tymrak	USA	MF	(1991-08-07)August 7, 1991 (aged 26)	FC Kansas City
16	Samantha Johnson	USA	DF	(1991-06-10)June 10, 1991 (aged 26)	Chicago Red Stars
17	Sydney Miramontez	USA	DF	(1994-10-11)October 11, 1994 (aged 23)	FC Kansas City
18	Nicole Barnhart	USA	GK	(1981-10-10)October 10, 1981 (aged 36)	FC Kansas City
19	Katrina Gorry	AUS	MF	(1992-08-13)August 13, 1992 (aged 25)	Brisbane Roar
20	Elise Thorsnes	NOR	FW	(1988-08-14)August 14, 1988 (aged 29)	Avaldsnes
21	Christen Press	USA	FW	(1988-12-29)December 29, 1988 (aged 29)	Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC
23	Gunnhildur Yrsa Jónsdóttir	ISL	MF	(1988-09-28)September 28, 1988 (aged 29)	Vålerenga
24	Katie Stengel	USA	FW	(1992-02-29)February 29, 1992 (aged 26)	Boston Breakers
25	Brittany Ratcliffe	USA	FW	(1994-02-07)February 7, 1994 (aged 24)	FC Kansas City

Transfers

As of July 19, 2018.^[27]

In

Date	Pos.	Nat.	Player	Previous club	Fees/notes	Ref.
June 18, 2018	FW	USA	Christen Press	Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC	Acquired in a three-team trade with Chicago Red Stars and Houston Dash.	[29]
	DF	USA	Samantha Johnson	Chicago Red Stars
June 28, 2018	FW	USA	Makenzy Doniak	North Carolina Courage	Acquired in trade with the North Carolina Courage for the rights to Heather O'Reilly.	[30]

Out

Player	Position	Destination club	Fees/notes	Date
Alexa Newfield	MF	unattached	Released	07/19/18
Maegan Kelly	MF	unattached	Released	06/20/18
E.J. Proctor	GK	unattached	Released	06/20/18
Brooke Elby	MF	Chicago Red Stars	Three team trade with the Chicago Red Stars and Houston Dash	06/18/18

Notes

1. ^
   Option Declined (OPT): Players who have had their option declined may still be resigned by the club under a new contract.
2. ^
   Free Agent (FREE): Players who are out of contract may still be resigned by the club under a new contract.

Trialist

Player	Position	Previous team	Notes	Date	Result
Taylor Isom	Defender	Brigham Young University	2018 NWSL College Draft pick #14	01/18/18
E.J. Proctor	Goalkeeper	Duke University	2018 NWSL College Draft pick #34	01/18/18

See also

• 2018 National Women's Soccer League season