August 1, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
Utah Royals FC News Release
SANDY, Utah – Utah Royals FC (2-1-0, 6 pts, 1st in Group A) defeat Club Tijuana (1-2-0, 3pts, 4th in Group A) 5-1 in its group stage finale of the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup at America First Field.
Back-to-back wins for the Royals fly to the top of Group A with 6 points. Portland Thorns tied with Utah in points but Utah’s higher goal differential (+5) breaks the tie. URFC awaits tomorrow and Friday’s results in the final days of group play to find out if it qualifies for the semi-final round.
The hosts went down early conceding in the third minute failing to recover from an offensive turnover. Tijuana’s Aisha Solorzano found the net for her fourth goal of the tournament. The goal would be tied for the second fastest conceded goal in club history only trailing Tobin Heath’s goal in the second minute in the twelfth game of URFC history back in 2018.
Capitan Paige Monaghan opened up the scoring in the 20th minute scoring her first goal in the blue-and-gold. Despite finding the back of the net for the first time the captain has contributed to multiple goal scoring series notching three assists in all competitions thus far.
Goals in back-to-back games from Hannah Betfort and Ally Sentnor extended the Royals lead before the break. Sentnor’s form continues to impress, notching her fifth of the year in all competitions.
Rookie Brecken Mozingo shined in the second half, scoring her first professional goal in the 64th minute only to score a second in the 90+5th minute. Mozingo notches the first brace of the second iteration of the Return of Royalty en route to player of the match honors.
Utah will face Crystal Palace Women’s on August 16th in a friendly match before URFC returns to NWSL play in stride looking to narrow the point differential between it and the playoff line (9). The Royals host expansion club sibling Bay FC on Friday, August 23, at America First Field. Kickoff is at 7:30 PM MT, with tickets available at https://www.utahroyals.com/tickets/
UTA 5 : 1 TIJ
GOAL-SCORING SUMMARY:
TIJ: Aisha Solórzano (Unassisted) 3′: Early in the game and against the run of play, Club Tijuana won the ball deep in their own half, launching a counterattack from a Royals corner which went all the way to the penalty area and was ultimately intercepted by Cristina Roque, under pressure from Aisha Solórzano, but Roque’s interception unfortunately deflected off the Tijuana striker and back into…