Photo by Jeff Wong
Sandy, U.T- Although the North Carolina Courage had a 40.6 percent of possession while the Utah Royals had a 59.4 percentage rate, both teams fought until the final minutes. The struggle for either team to score in front of a crowd of 8,529 fans was a problem that both sides couldn’t overcome.
The Royals hosted their second consecutive home match, coming off a loss from the Orlando Pride. On the other hand, the Courage entered this match confidently, having held first place the majority of this season, with their previous 4-0 win against Sky Blue.
While North Carolina has made their way past every team, Utah has been the only club to defeat the first-place team 1-0. The Courage and the Royals were also down numerous players who were called in for training with the USWNT. This brought about new strategies for both sides.
Courage defender Heather O’Reilly took the corner in the fifth minute of the match, which gave some action for the Royals. O’Reilly sent the ball to the center of the field and midfielder Débora Cristiane De Oliveira crossed the ball to Abby Erceg. Erceg put a decent header towards the goal that had Courage goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart on her feet to make the save.
Utah was able to hold down the fort for the first half and keep the Courage scoreless, but neither team could get the ball to the back of the net.
As the match was winding down, forward Lynn Williams dribbled fearlessly down the pitch and just as she was hopeful to face one-on-one with goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland, Royal defender Rachel Corsie interfered with her left foot as the shot was taken to shut down Williams chances of the ball making its way past Rowland, who was ready.
The match resulted in a 0-0 draw, but still leaves the Courage at the top with 46 points. In preparation for their next match, the Royals will travel to Texas to see the Houston Dash on Sunday, August 5th at 8:30 p.m. ET.
SCORING SUMMARY: None
BOOKING SUMMARY: None
UTAH ROYALS FC: #18-Nicole Barnhart, #3-Rebecca Moros, #2-Rachel Corsie, #16-Samantha Johnson, #6-Katie Bowen, #19-Katrina Gorry (#25-Brittany Ratcliffe, 64’), #12-Taylor Lytle (#15-Erika Tymrak, 80’), #23-Gunnhildur Yrsa Jónsdóttir, #10-Diana Matheson (#9-Lo’eau Labonta, 75’), #24-Katie Stengel
Subs not used: #17-Sydney Miramontez, #32-Becca Ritchie, #22-Collette Smith, #20-Elise Thorsnes
NC COURAGE: #99-Katelyn Rowland, #25-Meredith Speck, #6-Abby Erceg, #31-Kaleigh Kurtz, #17-Heather O’Reilly, #10-Débora Cristiane De Oliveira, #16-Cari Roccaro (#20-Yuri Kawamura, 82’), #8-Denise O’Sullivan, #23-Kristen Hamilton, #9-Lynn Williams, #14-Jessica McDonald (#21-Darian Jenkins, 72’)
Subs not used: #1-Sabrina D’Angelo, #28-Carlin Hudson, #27-Morgan Reid, #30-Sarh Teegarden, #29-Ryan Williams
TOTAL SHOTS: UTA 5-20 NC
SHOTS ON GOAL: UTA 1-4 NC
FOULS: UTA 16-8 NC
OFFSIDES: UTA 1-2 NC
CORNER KICKS: UTA 5-8 NC
SAVES: UTA 4-1 NC
Utah Royals
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