The Royal Watch: Fall series, wildfires, younger squad

Utah Royals FC will return to the pitch this Sunday. Well, they’re scheduled to, at least. The wildfires in the west coast have brought uncertainty to that possibility. On Monday, the NWSL postponed Tuesday’s match between Portland Thorns FC and OL Reign due to the continued air quality concerns in the Northwest region. The match has been rescheduled for Wednesday, September 30 at 8pm MST at Providence Park.

What about Sunday’s game in Portland?

On Monday, the status for Utah versus Portland was still very much unknown. Teams are still practicing, of course. As of Wednesday, due to poor air quality in Portland, Thorns FC have been training indoors.

As of this morning, the air quality in Portland remained in the unhealthy index where everyone may be affected. If I I had to guess, we will not know whether they play or not until tomorrow, but if the index remains the same, this game is postponed as well. The league confirmed that the game is still scheduled, pending weather conditions.

Utah’s Current Roster

We’ve yet to see Utah’s current roster drop for the fall series. It may come soon, especially that a game is two days away, but with this club, you just never know.

The roster on the club’s website and league website is not the most current. Some notable listings: Kelley O’Hara, but as far as we know, by requesting a trade to Washington (so its rumored), her days in Utah are done. Christen Press signed with Manchester United Women and will not return until May/June 2021, maybe not even until post-Olympics, if they happen. Rachel Corsie and Gunny Jonsdottir are on loan in Europe.

Michele Vasconcelos, who was recently traded from Chicago, is listed as are other players we did not see at the Challenge Cup. You can see Utah’s latest roster here.

No doubt Utah will have a much younger squad than this summer, but that may be for the best as the club hopes to develop it’s younger players.