Utah Royals Match Recap: Seattle Reign 4/26
- URFC Blog
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Match Overview
Utah Royals secured their third win in a row with an absolute blow-out at Lumen Field, Royal 2.0's first away-win against Seattle. From the very first minute, literally, Utah claimed the field, a dominance that didn't ebb as the game continued. With a healthier squad, Utah's bench is deepening, and it's becoming even more clear that the team's emphasis on "resilience" is more than just a buzzy excuse - it's a promise to each other and the fans that they will continue to push and grow into the team we're watching them become.
Royal Review vibe Check
Captain Cronin's Comeback: Paige brings the ENERGY.
Upward Trends 📈: no first-half slump! 2nd best record in last 15 games (only behind KC) 💅
The Starting XI
While we were sad to see Delzer and Prasnikar left off the roster this week due to injury, we're hoping it's a quick turnaround to keep depth and healthy competition. In a post-match interview with Attacking Third, Cronin mentioned the healthy competition the players are experiencing as they try to earn (and keep) their starts. Of note, even though McGlynn is back from injury, Coach Jimmy let Justus keep her starting role, rewarding her for her excellent performance so far this season.
The last two seasons (plagued with injuries) for the Royals have highlighted how critical a deep bench is for a team to be successful in this highly competitive league. As our team continues to get healthy (we had Loera (SEI), Delzer, Prasnikar, Hammond, and Ream (SEI) out this week), the Starting XI will likely continue to be in flux. Coach Jimmy has shown that he's open to changing the lineup, and as Paige mentioned in her interview, the Royals aren't a team that can be expected to have a stagnant group of steadfast starters.
The healthy competition here is key to player development. When Coenraets was first hired as Interim Head Coach, a fan wrote up a blog post about Jimmy's coaching style, emphasizing his ability to develop inexperienced and/or mid players into a cohesive, strong unit. Looking at the development of Royals players like Rabano (who got a start in her first game back this season), Tejada, and Thomsen, it's clear that true development is a primary factor creating the depth and options off the bench for Utah.
Changes from last week:
Nuria Rabano back in at left back after returning from a pre-season injury (Milazzo on the bench)
Narumi (Rumi) Miura in the midfield after returning from a pre-season injury (Pierre-Louis on the bench)
Cronin in at right forward after returning form a pre-season injury (Delzer injured)
Substitutions:
Minute | In | Out |
60' | Alexa Spaanstra | Paige Cronin |
78' | Miyabi Moriya | Nuria Rabano |
79' | Aria Nagai | Narumi Miura |
82' | Mia Justus | Mandy McGlynn |
Match Analysis
Overall Flow
The Royal's started off hotter than ever before with their fastest goal in club history, just 50 seconds into the match. With good pressure from Tanaka, a missed defensive back pass was quickly possessed by the Royals and passed to Cronin, who was perfectly prepared for the ball and shot a b-e-a-ut across the goal to the top left corner. The momentum continued with a shot off a messy corner by Narumi, which rocketed into the back of the net from outside the box. The first half finished off with a decisive "nail in the coffin" goal off an amazing assist from Tejada to Lacasse in the 45 + 1'.
The Momentum chart indicates that there's more to this story than just the score line, though. While I believe the Royals' win was fully deserved, I do think the 3-0 score fails to adequately represent the true balance of the match, but that's soccer! The good news here is that after Utah's 2 early goals, even though momentum started to shift toward Seattle in the first half, it didn't STAY there. Utah has consistently struggled to keep up through the rest of games, but the story in Seattle this week was different. Not only did Utah keep their lead, they kept a clean sheet and, perhaps more importantly, stayed in the game.
Key Performance Stats
For the most part, Utah and Seattle's numbers in this match weren't really that far off. Utah barely had more expected goals, and the teams were all but tied in shots on target, pass accuracy, and corners. Looking at these numbers alone, one wouldn't anticipate such an uneven final score. But high urgency, press, and disruption prevented Seattle from forming their lines and getting out wide to spread the Utah defense.
Seattle's offense likes to play in the deep wings, pulling their opponent's defense out wide to create holes that can be exploited in the center. As you can see in the match heatmap below, Utah restricted Seattle to a small window on either side of the goal, retaining a strong presence in the center while shutting down the wings. For more on Seattle's play style, read the match preview post here.
Goals
Three excellent goals were scored by the Royals this week, and Paige and Narumi are even up for NWLS's Goal of the Week!
Paige Cronin (1')
Narumi Miura (6')
Cloe Lacasse (45+1')
Player* Highlights
Look, I'd love nothing more than to talk about the amazing impact of Cronin and Narumi rejoining the roster this game, but I can't help but highlight the impressive games the folks below had.
Ana Tejada
I mean, this is what we've all been waiting for. We've seen moments of greatness from Tejada, but this game was a full 90+ minutes of the brilliance we know she's capable of. With her contract expiring at the end of this year, it's more important than ever that Tejada prove to the front office that she's an irreplaceable part of this Royal's squad. As a McGlynn-Tejada romanticist, and knowing that McGlynn is signed through 2029, I'm REALLY rooting for Tejada. She has good soccer IQ, and while she can be slow and has made some big mistakes over the years, she makes up for it in her steady and assertive control over the center of the pitch.
With a shot off the crossbar, Ana could have added to the score line yesterday. She also had an assist and some amazing defensive contributions. Read more about Ana's story here.
Mia Justus
While not officially up for NWSL Save of the Week, KDF agrees with the rest of us that she definitely deserved a nomination! The screen cap below (peep 😉 my Duolingo reminder, gotta keep my 501 day streak #HumbleBrag) from KDF's instagram story shows just one of Mia's great saves last night. With most prominent statistics almost equal this match, Justus' impeccable goalkeeping held the shutout, kept momentum, and increased the team's goal differential. Unfortunately, Justus experienced an injury near the end of the match. She was ultimately replaced by McGlynn a few minutes later.
*Coach Jimmy
Look, I know he's not a player, but look at where he's brought us. While we're far from the end of the season, literally no one predicted we'd currently be chasing down Kansas City for best record in the last 15 games. There were some fan grumblings at the beginning of this season about hoping the team would move on from Jimmy and find a replacement due to the team's struggles in their first... three? games of the season?
I get it, we're a passionate fan base, and I love that, but these types of comments bring me back to the "The Sky is Falling" rhetoric when Ally Sentnor left. While yes, we don't know where we're going to end up this season, but honestly, Jimmy is kind of punching above his weight here. He had a difficult roster with difficult injuries, but he's made smart training decisions to bring people up to speed (I will never NOT point to Rabano's first/second halves in 2025 as an excellent example of this). We have some excellent players, and maybe a few stars (Tanaka, Lacasse, maybe Miyabi), but really the Royals 2.0 has been a whole-team effort, with Jimmy's vision, culture creation, and drive pushing the team forward.
Perhaps the biggest indicator of his success is simply player happiness. With all the difficulties women athletes face, a supportive and encouraging environment that pushes people to be their best (both for themselves and their team) is a more telling and important achievement than end-of-season standings. And despite the ups and downs the last two years, the Royals that remain have done so because they fit within and believe in Jimmy's vision.
The players are happy. In her Attacking Third interview, Paige mentioned that Rumi came off the pitch yesterday simply saying, "I love this team." Creating a team culture where players are doing their best not out of a sense of ego but out of a sense of commitment to the team is something to be lauded.
Grading their Homework
I laid out some steps the team could take to improve their performance in last match recap against Chicago. Let's see how they did!
Integrating the 9: B-
While Palacios had perhaps her best game yet for the Royals, she still struggled to connect with her teammates. With only 26 touches and 13 passes, Kiana's success this week mostly came from her strong positioning in the box (giving her some strong shot opportunities) and her high successful challenge rate. You can see that she's improving and starting to adjust to the league, evidenced by her front-footedness this game, but she's going to need better integration before we can start seeing her score like she did in Mexico.
Maintaining Energy/Stay in the Game at Halftime: A-
We moved into halftime with energy, keeping our high press and relying on fresh legs from our strong bench. Miyabi, Nagai, and Spaanstra all came in ready to go, keeping momentum high and preventing Seattle from forcing a late-game goal. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the devastating injury to Jess Fishlock in the 64'. The Seattle side was justifiably shaken after the injury, in which Fishlock was stretchered off the field and immediately taken to a hospital.
Homework for this Week
None! No notes! Just keep doing what you're doing!
Looking Ahead
Next Match:
The Royals take on Angel City at BMO Stadium this Saturday, May 2nd at 6:45 PM.
What to Expect:
In the event I don't have time to do a full match preview this week, here are some quick notes as to what you can expect to see on Saturday.
Angel City Overview
Angel City came into 2026 hot, historically hot, actually. Three straight wins to open the season was a club record, and through that stretch they looked like one of the most complete teams in the league: aggressive attack, disciplined defense, and a clear tactical identity under head coach Alex Straus. Their 4-2-3-1 is built around quick combination play through the center, with Icelandic forward Sveindis Jonsdottir (Player of the Month for March) as the central threat. Jonsdottir's 3 goals and 2 assists so far this year make her a huge attacking threat.
What to Watch For
Angel City's possession game is patient and technical, with more possession than their opponent in every game this year. The Royals have been at their best when disrupting possession-heavy sides (see: Seattle). If Utah wins the ball back quickly through their high duel-success rate and goes vertical fast, Angel City's backline could be exposed.
Will We Win?
Angel City at home is genuinely tough, and they'll be hungry to bounce back after a rough two weeks. But this Royals squad is on a three-game win streak with momentum, depth, and energy. If Utah brings the same intensity they showed against Seattle, channels their set-piece strength, and doesn't let the early atmosphere at BMO rattle them? I like our chances more than I probably should. 👑
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