Utah Royals Match Recap: Portland Thorns (5/30)

Match Overview

The Royals finally met a worthy opponent (*sarcasm*) to justify their top-of-the-league spot last Saturday!! Over the last few weeks, Royals nay-sayers claimed that we're only at the top of the table because we had an easy schedule and hadn't faced any top contenders. Hopefully this match finally puts that narrative to rest.

Utah had an amazing game against Portland, and we were the better team, but we know that the better team doesn't always win (and we were the beneficiary of such soccer mayhem against Denver two weeks ago). Regardless, the Royals can be, should be, and I think are proud of their performance against the Thorns. It was a chaotic game with a rare 8-second keeper delay, a penalty, off-side 'goals,' and a ping-ponging score line, making this one an incredibly fun, engaging, and enraging watch.

Utah could have easily won this one, and both of Portland's goals came from big Utah mistakes: a poor (nonexistent) clearance in the defense and a delay-of-game hold from Mandy giving Portland a corner that THEN led to a penalty on Spaanstra. But Utah had 23 total shots, with 8 of those on-target, and 3 "big chances" missed.

Royal Buzz Vibe Check

• Defensive Downers: Oopsies

• Utah Really is: #THATbitch

Starting XI

Only one difference here with Miyabi starting in place of Thomsen, who is officially on an excused absence and will likely be out for the remainder of the season (though I though I heard someone say we'll see her back in July?). Miyabi had a good game on the Royals' right side, providing some quality defensive contributions before being subbed out in the 64th minute.

Substitutions

Minute	In	Out
64'	Tatumn Milazzo	Miyabi Moriya
64'	Dayana Pierre-Louis	Ana Tejada
64'	Alexa Spaanstra	Cece Delzer
82'	Kiana Palacios	Lara Prasnikar

Nothing too different here: the Lara --> Palacios and Spaanstra --> Delzer substitutions are becoming a regular occurrence. New this week was Dayana Pierre-Louis, who hadn't played since Utah's match against Houston at the beginning of the month. Dayana was struggling a bit in her last few matches for the Royals, with her form dropping slightly from her strong early performances when she was getting the start due to midfield injuries. It was a smart choice to bring Tejada out, though, as she was sitting on a yellow card and there was no need to risk her getting another and being unavailable next match.

Match Analysis

Overall Flow

Match Flow from FOTMOB

This one is interesting.. despite some initial dominance from Utah, the match was swinging heavily back and forth, indicating strong transition play from both teams, with an obvious Portland tilt in the second half. Before the game, Coach Jimmy indicated that the goal for the Royals was to keep possession, which is where the team is comfortable, but Portland is a very transitional team, and despite some early control, the game turned to a full end-to-end battle. The second-half split is backed-up by possession stats, which indicate that while Utah had 64% possession in the first half, they only had 43% in the second half.

The Royals came out in the first half fully engaged, maintaining possession and making multiple strong attempts on the goal early on. Miyabi provided a strong press up the right wing and Rabano the same on the left, spreading the Portland defense and creating space for clear crosses and long balls into the attacking third. Throughout the pitch, Utah also had a strong counter-press, continuing to push for the ball to regain possession after turnovers.

There were a couple of near-misses from Utah at the beginning of the first half with 12 total shots (1.43 xG), but their performance cooled down a bit following the Moultrie goal in the 21st minute. This was exactly when the match flow moved from Utah possession to a transitional game, putting the Royals in a more reactive position.

Another factor to consider in this match is that Portland's stadium, Providence Park, has turf instead of grass, which is becoming much more rare: Chicago is the only other team in the league with artificial turf. Before the match, Coenraets indicated that the Royals intentionally did NOT practice on turf, as the training staff felt injury risk was too high to make it worth it. Commentators for this match indicated that the Royals were slipping and misreading the bounce of the ball likely on account of the unfamiliarity with this surface type. I completely agree with Jimmy's decision here, and I think the few mishaps here and there that could have been caused by the decision not to practice on turf are totally worth minimizing injury risk.

Goals ⚽⚽

Kiana Palacios (44')

Photo Courtesy Utah Royals FC

In the lead-up on this play, Miyabi played a long ball centrally to Tanaka, who did a good job to maintain control despite heavy defending by Portland center-back Obaze. Tanaka then drove centrally towards the top of the box before turning to drop a pass back wide to Nuria, who expertly placed a long ball right in front of the goal. Palacios and Delzer were both waiting for an opportunity to pounce, and they ran together to meet Nuria's ball in a dangerous spot, leading to an amazing header from Palacios. Portland Keeper Arnold had no chance to do more than graze the bottom of the ball with her fingertips. This goal marked: 1) the end of Portland's season-long shutout streak at home, 2) Palacios' 2nd goal in 2 games, and 3) Rabano's first assist this year.

Cloe Lacasse (50')

Photo Courtesy Utah Royals FC

This goal came off another excellent counter-press from Miyabi on the offensive right wing. Tanaka collected her deflection and drew in all of Portland's defenders, leaving Lacasse free to make a run towards the far post and make contact with Tanaka's pass. Lacasse easily tapped the ball into the net, putting Utah up 2-1 early in the second half. You'll notice that both of these goals started with a Miyabi-Tanaka connection. Those two are so in sync from all the time they've spent together with the Japanese national team, and the overall team chemistry really is something special.

Player Highlights

Nuria Rabano (FTOMOB Rating 8.7)

Photo Courtesy Utah Royals FC

Rabano had an excellent game this week, and her assist on Palacios' goal helped the Royal's get back into the match. She also created 6 other offensive chances throughout the match, indicating that she can contribute reliably on both sides of the ball. Nuria had some great clearances and defensive actions that helped Utah maintain the tie and earn a point.

Mina Tanaka (FOTMOB Rating 8.0)

Photo Courtesy Utah Royals FC

Mina was central to both of Utah's goals against Portland, which shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who's been following the team's recent performance. Mina is definitely the team's VIP at this point in the season, and it's honestly been hard to not highlight her in these recaps every week.

Homework for the Summer Break

Both of Utah's conceded goals this match were from poor choices and silly mistakes. The team needs to tighten up in preparation for the upcoming onslaught of difficult opponents once games resume in July.

First, the Royals need to work on clearing the ball out of their box. With Narumi dropping back beside Tejada to create this match's double-pivot, the lines got a bit blurred on defensive roles, leading to the blunder early on that allowed Moultrie to essentially walk through our defense and score. If the Royals are going to continue exploring the double-pivot in defensive-minded games, Tejada and Rumi will need to improve their communication to ensure they have enough space to take defensive accountability without creating new gaps or too much open space between lines.

The second goal was a direct result from a Spaanstra foul inside the box, which came off a corner from McGlynn's time-wasting hold. The homework on this is to just make smarter decisions.. not much more to say about that.

The last thing I think the team should work on over the break is passing accuracy. Utah is currently FIFTEENTH in the 16-team league for accurate passes per match. For a team that likes to play a possession-heavy style with quick, tight, and close passes, this is honestly just unacceptable. Maybe it's a consequence of our style of play, but if the Royals can clean this up it will make them a real contender for the Shield.

Summer Break International Call-Ups

Player	Team
Mandy McGlynn	United States
Kate Del Fava	United States U-23 (one of 3 allowed players over 23)
Miyabi Moriya	Japan
Dayana Pierre-Louis	Haiti
Mina Tanaka	Japan
Cloe Lacasse	Canada
Kiana Palacios	Mexico
Lara Prasnikar	Slovenia
Kameron Simmonds	Jamaica