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Utah Royals FC

Utah Royals FC Adds Two in NWSL Expansion Draft

December 15, 2023 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Utah Royals FC News Release


SANDY, Utah - Utah Royals FC today added two players via the National Women's Soccer League Expansion Draft, presented by Ally, the reborn Club set to return to the NWSL as a 2024 expansion side, along with Northern California's Bay FC.

With Utah's first expansion selection (second overall), Royals FC added FW Elyse Bennett from Seattle-based OL Reign, a 23-year-old striker entering her third NWSL campaign. The former Washington State product hails from Lake Forest, Ill., and boasts five goals in 46 career NWSL contests with KC Current (2022) and OL Reign (2023). Bennett was drafted seventh overall in 2022 by Kansas City

URFC also selected FW Paige Monaghan from Racing Louisville FC (fourth overall), a five-year NWSL veteran with 79 appearances for Gotham FC (2019-22) and Racing (2023), scoring nine goals in her professional career. Monaghan was selected 10th overall in the 2019 draft by Sky Blue FC (neé Gotham FC) out of Butler University, the Succasunna, N.J. native the first-ever Bulldog drafted into the NWSL.

Utah Royals FC passed on the sixth, eighth and 10th overall selections.

The NWSL transaction moratorium ends Saturday morning, at which time clubs can resume signings of both restricted and unrestricted free agents, as well as the conduction of trades by which to bolster the 2024 preseason roster.

Earlier this week, a series of transactions were announced by Sporting Director Kelly Cousins on behalf of the Club, positioning URFC for Friday's draft with a combination of players celebrating Utah homecomings, young NWSL players seeking new opportunities, and various mechanisms added to the club arsenal as Utah builds its roster with new Head Coach Amy Rodriguez.

Find the full press conference with Head Coach Amy Rodriguez and Sporting Director Kelly Cousins here

Here's Utah's roster by position - along with each player's 2023 NWSL side - as it currently stands following Friday's festivities:

GK: Mandy Haught (Gotham FC), Carly Nelson (Orlando Pride)

DF: Kaleigh Riehl (San Diego Wave), Madison Pogarch (San Diego Wave), Kate Del Fava (KC Current)

MF: Mikayla Cluff (Orlando Pride), Michele Vasconcelos (Portland Thorns), Emily Gray (North Carolina Courage), Frankie Tagliaferri (North Carolina Courage)

FW: Elyse Bennett (OL Reign), Hannah Betford (Portland Thorns), Imani Dorsey (Gotham FC), Paige Monaghan (Racing Louisville), Cameron Tucker (Houston Dash)

The 2024 NWSL Draft, presented by Ally, will take place Friday, January 12 at 6 p.m. MT during the United Soccer Coaches Convention at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. For the full list of draft rules and procedures, please click here.

Currently, Utah Royals FC's 2024 draft picks (round / overall) are as follows:

1st Round - No. 1, No. 4 (KC)

2nd Round - No. 16, No. 20 (WAS), No. 21 (WAS), No. 26 (ORL)

3rd Round - No. 29, No. 33 (POR)

4th Round - No. 44

Live coverage of the 2024 NWSL Draft, presented by Ally, will be televised on ION from 6 to 8 p.m. MT. All rounds of the draft will be streamed on ION Plus. Viewers can find access to ION in their area by visiting https://iontelevision.com/find-us.

Entering Friday, the Royals had traded expansion protection to all but three teams (Seattle-based OL Reign, Racing Louisville and Chicago Red Stars) in what will be a 14-team league in 2024 via transactions over the last month with the following teams:

Angel City FC (int'l spot + allocation money)

Gotham FC (Imani Dorsey, Mandy Haught)

Houston Dash (Cameron Tucker)

KC Current (Kate Del Fava)

North Carolina Courage (Emily Gray, Frankie Tagliaferri)

Orlando Pride (Mikayla Cluff, Carly Nelson)

Portland Thorns FC (Michele Vasconcelos, Hannah Betford)

San Diego Wave FC (Madison Pogarch)

Washington Spirit (No. 20/21 picks in 2024 draft)

Unsigned unrestricted and restricted free agents were unavailable for selection, as were Under-18 players, individuals on the discovery list of any team, and any player with a "no-trade" clause in their contract, meaning they are required to be protected by the club.

Northern California-based Bay FC had also traded expansion protection to Houston, Angel City, Gotham FC, Portland, Washington, Louisville, Kansas City and Orlando as part of its pre-expansion flurry of transactions.

2024 UTAH ROYALS ALPHABETICAL ROSTER (as of 15 DECEMBER 2023)

No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Age Hometown College Status INTL

-- Elyse Bennett FW 5-9 27 Dec 1999 23 Lake Forest, IL Washington State

-- Hannah Betfort FW 5-10 4 Jan 1999 24 Charleston, SC Wake Forest

-- Mikayla Cluff FW 5-8 25 Feb 1999 24 Kaysville, UT Brigham Young

-- Kate Del Fava DF 5-9 23 July 1998 25 Kenosha, WI Illinois State

-- Imani Dorsey FW 5-7 21 Mar 1996 27 Elkridge, MD Duke

-- Emily Gray MF 5-4 5 Oct 2000 23 Sewell, NJ Virginia Tech

-- Mandy Haught GK 5-9 3 Nov 1998 25 Jacksonville, FL Virginia Tech

-- Paige Monaghan FW 5-7 13 Nov 1996 27 Succasanna, NJ Butler

-- Carly Nelson GK 5-6 11 Feb 1998 25 Lindon, UT Utah

-- Madison Pogarch DF 5-6 5 Nov 1997 26 Hartland, MI Central Michigan

-- Kayleigh Riehl DF 5-8 21 Oct 1996 27 Fairfax Station, VA Penn State

-- Frankie Tagliaferri MF 5-6 18 Jan 1999 24 Red Bank, NJ Rutgers (Penn St)

-- Cameron Tucker FW 5-9 15 July 1999 24 Highland, UT Brigham Young

-- Michele Vasconcelos FW 5-5 11 May 1994 29 Sandy, UT Brigham Young

KEY UPCOMING NWSL DATES:

Tues., Dec. 12 - Transaction Moratorium Begins;

Protected/Unprotected player lists distributed to Utah Royals FC / Bay FC

Fri., Dec. 15 - Expansion Draft

Sat., Dec. 16 - Transaction Moratorium Ends

Fri., Jan. 12 - NWSL Draft, presented by Ally

Check out the Utah Royals FC Statistics

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