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It finally happened! A win for URFC vs. Washington Spirit!

We finally did it! 3 points, 2 goals, and one heck of a night to be in Rio Tinto Stadium.

Utah Royals FC celebrate Kelley O’Hara’s goal in the 7th minute.
Lucas Muller - RSL Soapbox

It’s been a result six games in the making, but Utah Royals FC finally took three full points, scoring twice in a 2-0 win over the Washington Spirit. F

First off, we just need to thank all 7,551 fans that showed up to Rio Tinto and made it an incredible atmosphere. Truly, it did play a huge part in this game, and if the players’ reactions after the fact doesn’t say thank you enough, we will say it again here.

Back to the actual match. I think it’s pretty easy to say in general that the Royals came out and pretty well dominated the first half. With Kelley O’Hara scoring a beautiful goal just seven minutes in with the Amy Rodriguez assist, it was a great start to the match. From there Utah maintained just 52% possession, but with 74% passing accuracy, up 6% from last week’s match vs Portland. This is one of the most complete performances we have seen from Utah thus far.

Going into halftime, it was pretty clear who had the firepower behind them. Following halftime, however, things got a little shaky. Utah was struggling to maintain possession but eventually found their rhythm once again. The Royals were able to pull out a win, despite Washington having 12 shots whereas Utah only had 10. Luckily for both teams, disciplinary action was minimal in this game. With one yellow card to Becky Sauerbrunn in the 15th minute and another to Taylor Smith in the 72nd.

We obviously cannot forget this incredible goal from the 66th minute scored by Diana Matheson. I think videos speak louder than words for this one. Just look at the reaction from the other URFC players in it.

All in all, this win is a historical one. Not only is it the first ever Utah Royals FC win, but it came at home in from of, like mentioned before, over 7,000 fans. The atmosphere of the stadium was incredible and it truly was something the players were able to feed off of.

If you’re in Utah, be sure to come out on Wednesday as the Utah Royals take on Orlando Pride at 7 pm. You won’t want to miss it.