Riding the momentum from a 1–0 home victory over the Orlando Pride last weekend, the Royals struck early on the road against North Carolina. In the sixth minute, DF Kate Del Fava rose at the far post to head home a beautifully-delivered corner kick from Nuria Rábano, giving Utah the opening goal. Del Fava, the Royals' Iron Woman has played every minute of every match since the Club returned to NWSL competition in March 2024. During the match, Del Fava surpassed 10,000 career regular-season minutes in the NWSL, adding another milestone to her remarkable run of consistency.
In Portland, Real Salt Lake scored the opening goal in the 18th minute through superb team play down the left side of the penalty area. Midfielder Morgan Guilavogui produced a brilliant layoff on the half turn to Uruguayan World Cup standout JuanMa Sanabria, who cleverly allowed the ball to run across his body before calmly tucking the ball neatly inside the far post. The Uruguayan international has shined brightly since returning from the World Cup, the team's assist leader capping off his amazing form with his first RSL and MLS goal of his young career.
"I think she has been amazing, what this group is, and she is a great example of this, they are just very humble," URFC head coach Jimmy Coenraets commented on Del Fava. "She is a good example of 'as much as she has done today, she will continue to be ready and lead us into Wednesday.'"
"That's a tough position for the rest of the group and there are emotions in the game," RSL Head coach Pablo Mastroeni said about the red card. "Going down a man when I thought we had control was difficult. We had a lot of looks on goal and I thought defensively we were really tight."
Utah Royals FC doubled its advantage in the 35th minute off another corner. After the initial delivery was cleared, Forward Cloé Lacasse collected the loose ball before sliding it over to Rábano, who lofted a looping cross back into the heart of the penalty area. Defender Tatumn Milazzo calmly met the ball with a guided finish for her third goal of the season. Just before halftime, Cece Delzer threaded a line-breaking through-ball to Lara Prašnikar, putting the Slovenian in on goal. With only one defender left to beat, Prašnikar was unable to convert the chance, and the Royals headed into the break with a 2-0 lead.
North Carolina pulled one back in the 54th minute off a loose pass from USA goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn, allowing the Courage to launch a dangerous counter attack. The ball eventually found Swedish forward Evelyn Ijeh, whose composed finish went between the legs of Del Fava before leaking into the goal. In the 65th minute, a well-worked short corner was swung in by Lacasse toward an open Mina Tanaka for a snap header that rippled the net for the Royals' third goal of the match.
Late in the 92nd minute, Lacasse surged down the left side of the penalty area before being brought down by a home defender, earning Utah a penalty kick. Lacasse calmly converted the spot kick, sending the ball into the bottom left corner as the North Carolina goalkeeper dove the opposite direction, sealing Utah's record fourth and final goal of the match.
The 34th minute saw Guilavogui ejected for violent conduct against a Portland player as the two stumbled out of bounds, leaving RSL down to 10 men for the remaining 56-plus minutes.
10 minutes into the second half, Portland equalized through an inswinging corner to Felipe Mora , tying the match at 1-1 in the 55th minute. 11 minutes after the first goal, the home team won another corner, with Mora soaring between two RSL defenders to score a second for the Timbers. Late in the match, substitute RSL striker Victor Olatunji controlled the ball out of the air and fired home a potential equalizer, however a close offside flag denied another RSL goal for the Nigerian striker.
Utah Royals FC now returns home to host USWNT star Trinity Rodman and the Washington Spirit on Wednesday at 7 p.m. MDT, then hosting the Portland Thorns FC on Sunday, Aug. 2 at 4 p.m. MDT at America First Field in Sandy, with tickets to both available to purchase at RSL.com .
Looking to snap its six-game road winless streak, the Claret-and-Cobalt now head to Energizer Park to face St. the Louis City FC on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. MDT with streaming on AppleTV.
Cloé Lacasse (24) celebration after penalty kick. | URFC
Tatum Milazzo (2), Nuria Rábano (14), Mina Tanaka (11), Narumi Miura (10) and Paige Cronin (4) moments after Tanaka's header. | URFC
Diego Luna (10), Morgan Guilavogui (9), JuanMa Sanabria (8), Sergi Solans (22) and Zavier Gozo (72) embrace as a team after goal. | RSL
Kate Del Fava (8), Lara Prašnikar (9) and Mina Tanaka (11) celebrating seconds after Del Fava headed her first goal of the season. | URFC
