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Utah Royals FC

This Week at RSL: June 18-23

June 18, 2019 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Utah Royals FC News Release


Real Salt Lake

RSL returns to action after the FIFA break, visiting the Chicago Fire on Saturday. With three weeks between MLS matches, RSL sits seventh in the Western Conference standings at 6-8-1 (19 points). Following a three-game winning streak that included wins over the Colorado Rapids, Toronto FC and Atlanta United, RSL dropped consecutive road contests against the Montreal Impact and New York Red Bulls in a four-day stretch. Additionally, RSL bowed out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 3-0 defeat against LAFC last week.

Now with Albert Rusnák, Justen Glad, Aaron Herrera, Brooks Lennon and Sebastian Saucedo all returning from international duty, Head Coach Mike Petke will have nearly an entire roster at his disposal against Chicago this weekend. Jefferson Savarino remains away with Venezuela at the 2019 Copa America in Brazil, where he will face Brazil on Tuesday (6:30 p.m. MT) and closes out the Group Stage on Saturday against Bolivia (1 p.m. MT).

After 15 matches, RSL is led by forward Sam Johnson and midfielder Albert Rusnák, who have five goals apiece, with Rusnák adding two assists as well. Eight different players have found the scoresheet thus far, with Johnson and Rusnák joined by Damir Kreilach (3 G, 1 A), Jefferson Savarino (3 G, 1 A), Sebastian Saucedo (2 G, 2 A), Corey Baird (1 G, 2 A), Donny Toia (1 G, 1 A) and Marcelo Silva (1 G). RSL is one of eight teams in MLS with at least two players with at least five goals each - of those, only the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City have three players above that plateau.

Saturday's kickoff from SeatGeek Stadium against the Chicago Fire is scheduled for 6:00p MT. The match will be broadcast live on KMYU and streamed on the KSL TV app and KSL.com, with radio coverage on ESPN700.

Utah Royals FC

Utah Royals FC returned from the international break on Saturday, posting a 1-0 victory over Sky Blue FC. Amy Rodriguez scored her fifth goal of the season and Nicole Barnhart made five saves to preserve the fifth shutout of the season for URFC, who improved to 5-2-1 (16 points) on the season, good for second in the NWSL standings.

On Friday, URFC will travel to Portland to face the Thorns at Providence Park. The matchup between second- and third-place teams in the standings kicks off at 9 p.m. MT with live coverage on the KSL TV app, KSLSports.com and ESPN 700.

Six players remain away at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France, with four players already clinching berths in the Round of 16. Kelley O'Hara, Christen Press and Becky Sauerbrunn have all featured for the U.S., who has outscored its opponents 16-0 through the first two matches to advance to the Knockout Round. The U.S. will face Sweden on Thursday at 1 p.m. MT on Fox in a match to determine seeding in the Round of 16. Desiree Scott and Canada have also advanced with wins over Cameroon and New Zealand. Canada will face Netherlands on Thursday at 10 a.m. MT to determine seeding in the next stage. Joining Canada in Group E, Katie Bowen's New Zealand side is 0-2-0 through two matches and will need a win on Thursday against Cameroon and some other results to fall their way to advance. Similarly, Rachel Corsie and Scotland are looking for their first win in the tournament on Wednesday against Argentina and will need a win and some help to get through.

Real Monarchs SLC

The Monarchs (4-6-3, 15 points) had the weekend off after a 5-3 win over Rio Grande Valley on June 8, with Douglas Martinez leading the way with two goals in the match. Maikel Chang, Josh Heard and Noah Powder also added goals for the Monarchs, who improved to 4-2-1 at Zions Bank Stadium this season. With two road matches on the horizon, the USL Championship club still seeks its first road win of the year.

The focus now turns a meeting with the Colorado Springs Switchbacks on Saturday at Weidner Field, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. MT with a live stream on ESPN+.

RSL Academy

The USSDA Playoffs are under way in Oceanside, California and the RSL U-19 Academy team opened play on Monday with a 2-2 draw against Atlanta United. Richard Ruiz opened scoring in the 20th minute and after two unanswered goals from Atlanta, Delentz Pierre scored the equalizer in the 90th minute to secure a point in the first match. The U-19s will now take on Bethesda SC on Wednesday and Crossfire Premier on Friday to close out the Group Stage. RSL youngsters David Ochoa, Luis Arriaga and Julian Vazquez all joined the Academy for the playoffs.

On the U-17 side, RSL will face Real Colorado on Tuesday, Toronto FC on Thursday and FC Westchester on Saturday in the Group Stage.

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National Women's Soccer League Stories from June 18, 2019


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