United Women’s Soccer releases 2018 West Conference schedule

There is a lot of excitement surrounding the upcoming inaugural season of Utah Royals FC, and rightly so. That’s not the only women’s soccer action in the RSL Family in 2018, as Real Salt Lake Women are preparing to start their sixth season overall, and third season as a founding member of United Women’s Soccer.

Head coach Mark Davis will be back for his third season at the head of RSL’s semo-pro second tier team. He should be joined by many of the regulars from past seasons, including those players who are currently with Royals FC in preseason camp. There will also likely be a new mix of local college and high school talent filling out the roster for the season.

The UWS West Conference sees a few changes for 2018. Returning after a one year absence from the league is Colorado Pride. They will be joined by new club LA Galaxy OC, a youth club in Orange County that is fielding a higher level competitive team this season. With the withdrawal of long-time rival Houston Aces from the league, that still sets the team count at six for the first time in league history.

As a result, the schedule below features 10 matches for the first time, in 5 pairs of home and away matches against the other teams in the conference. RSL Women have a three Friday nights, and a pair of Sunday evening home matches this season, which fortunately do not coincide with any Real Salt Lake, Real Monarchs, or Royals FC home matches, which is great for all the supporters who want to be able to make it to a match or two.

We’ve posted the full schedule below as provided by the league. The team is playing all their matches on Clyde Field (just west of the UCCU Center) at Utah Valley University this year, which means they will have a consistent home field and play all their matches on natural grass for the first time in UWS.

The first home match, and first of the season, is possibly the biggest of the year with Santa Clarita Blue Heat making their visit to Utah. The matches between these two teams are always close, and despite RSLW having a record of 0-3-1 (W-L-D) against SCBH, the margin of defeat has never been more than one goal. This year RSLW will look to start off strong against the 2016 UWS Champions, and their star player Deyna Castellanos, who was a finalist for FIFA Women’s Player of the Year in 2017, and is a standout for the Venezuelan National Team.

We look forward to having another great season with both Utah Royals FC and RSL Women playing, and seeing all of the RSL Family at the matches!