2020 Utah Royals FC season

Utah Royals FC

2020 season
Owner	Dell Loy Hansen
Head coach	Amy LePeilbet (interim)
Stadium	Rio Tinto Stadium
NWSL
2020 NWSL Challenge Cup	Quarter-finals
Home colors Away colors
←  2019 2021 (KC) 2024 (Utah)  →

The 2020 Utah Royals FC season marks the team's third year and final season of existence in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top division of the American soccer pyramid. ^[1] After this season, the team folded and transferred players and coaches to the new Kansas City NWSL, now known as the Kansas City Current.

On January 6, 2020 the team mutually parted ways with head coach Laura Harvey so she could take a position with U.S Soccer as the head coach for the U-20 Women's National Team. ^[2]

Competitions

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the NWSL did not hold a regular season as originally scheduled. ^[3] The season was replaced by the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup in July and the Fall Series in September and October. ^[4]

2020 NWSL Challenge Cup

Main article: 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup

The Royals began their Challenge Cup against the Houston Dash on June 30. They were without forward Christen Press who opted out of the tournament and Desiree Scott who withdrew from the tournament for personal reasons. ^{[5] [6]}

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	North Carolina Courage	4	4	0	0	7	1	+6	12
2	Washington Spirit	4	2	1	1	4	4	0	7
3	OL Reign	4	1	2	1	1	2	−1	5
4	Houston Dash	4	1	1	2	5	6	−1	4
5	Utah Royals FC (H)	4	1	1	2	4	5	−1	4
6	Chicago Red Stars	4	1	1	2	2	3	−1	4 [a]
7	Sky Blue FC	4	1	1	2	2	3	−1	4 [a]
8	Portland Thorns FC	4	0	3	1	2	3	−1	3

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Host
Notes:

1. Chicago Red Stars won the tiebreaker against Sky Blue FC on fewer yellow cards (1 to 4).

Challenge Cup match results

Preliminary round

Houston Dash v Utah Royals FC

June 30, 20201	Houston Dash	3–3	Utah Royals FC	Herriman, Utah
10:30	Daly 45+1', 47' Groom 67'	Report	Matheson 35' Boquete 82' King 89'	Stadium: Zions Bank Stadium Referee: Karen Abt

Utah Royals FC v Sky Blue FC

July 4, 20202	Utah Royals FC	1–0	Sky Blue FC	Herriman, Utah
10:30	Rodriguez 41'	Report		Stadium: Zions Bank Stadium Referee: Katja Koroleva

Utah Royals FC v OL Reign

July 8, 20203	Utah Royals FC	0–1	OL Reign	Herriman, Utah
10:30		Report	Balcer 90+1'	Stadium: Zions Bank Stadium Referee: Danielle Chesky

Chicago Red Stars v Utah Royals FC

July 12, 20204	Chicago Red Stars	1–0	Utah Royals FC	Herriman, Utah
20:00	Short 85'	Report		Stadium: Zions Bank Stadium Referee: Michael Radchuk

Knockout round

Houston Dash v Utah Royals FC

July 17, 2020Quarter-final	Houston Dash	0–0 (3–2 p)	Utah Royals FC	Zions Bank Stadium Herriman, Utah
20:00		Report
	Penalties
	Schmidt Nairn Daly Visalli		Rodriguez LaBonta Corsie King Boquete

Fall Series

Main article: 2020 National Women's Soccer League season § Fall Series

The Royals would be without several players for the NWSL Fall Series. Forward Christen Press signed with Manchester United. Rachel Corsie went on loan to Birmingham City and Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir was loaned to Valur. Kelley O'Hara, Desiree Scott and Diana Matheson all opted out of the Fall Series. ^[7]

Head Coach Craig Harrington and assistant coach Louis Lancaster were placed on administrative leave prior to the first game of the Fall Series, Amy LePeilbet was named interim head coach. ^[8]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portland Thorns FC (C)	4	3	1	0	10	3	+7	10	Community Shield
2	Houston Dash	4	3	0	1	12	7	+5	9	Runners-up
3	Washington Spirit	4	2	1	1	5	4	+1	7	Third place
4	Sky Blue FC	4	2	0	2	6	7	−1	6
5	North Carolina Courage	4	1	2	1	8	10	−2	5
6	Chicago Red Stars	4	1	1	2	7	7	0	4
7	OL Reign	4	1	1	2	6	8	−2	4
8	Orlando Pride	4	0	2	2	5	8	−3	2
9	Utah Royals FC	4	0	2	2	3	8	−5	2

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(C) Champions

Fall Series match results

Portland Thorns FC v Utah Royals FC

September 20, 20201	Portland Thorns FC	3–0	Utah Royals FC	Portland, Oregon
	Charley 35' Smith 72' Horan 81'			Stadium: Providence Park

Utah Royals FC v OL Reign

September 26, 20202	Utah Royals FC	2–2	OL Reign	Sandy, Utah
	Diallo 9' King 22'		Balcer 23' White 28'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium

Utah Royals FC v Portland Thorns FC

October 3, 20203	Utah Royals FC	1–1	Portland Thorns FC	Sandy, Utah
	Rodriguez 9'		Sinclair 59'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium

OL Reign v Utah Royals FC

October 17, 20204	OL Reign	2–0	Utah Royals FC	Tacoma, Washington
	Huerta 24' Pruitt 51'			Stadium: Cheney Stadium

Club

Roster

• Age calculated as of the start of the 2020 Fall Series.

As of September 11, 2020 ^{[9] [10] [11] [12]}

No.	Name	Nationality	Positions	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Year with club (year signed)
1	Abby Smith	United States	GK	(1993-10-04)October 4, 1993 (aged 26)	Boston Breakers	3 (2018)
2	Rachel Corsie	Scotland	DF	(1989-08-17)August 17, 1989 (aged 31)	Seattle Reign	3 (2018)
3	Tziarra King	United States	FW	(1998-08-24)August 24, 1998 (aged 22)	North Carolina State University	1 (2020)
5	Kelley O'Hara	United States	DF	(1988-08-04)August 4, 1988 (aged 32)	Sky Blue FC	3 (2018)
6	Katie Bowen	New Zealand	DF	(1994-04-15)April 15, 1994 (aged 26)	FC Kansas City	3 (2018)
7	Elizabeth Ball	United States	DF	(1995-10-20)October 20, 1995 (aged 24)	Portland Thorns	1 (2020)
8	Amy Rodriguez	United States	FW	(1987-02-17)February 17, 1987 (aged 33)	FC Kansas City	3 (2018)
9	Lo'eau LaBonta	United States	MF	(1993-03-18)March 18, 1993 (aged 27)	FC Kansas City	3 (2018)
10	Diana Matheson	Canada	MF	(1984-04-06)April 6, 1984 (aged 36)	Seattle Reign FC	3 (2018)
11	Desiree Scott	Canada	MF	(1987-07-31)July 31, 1987 (aged 33)	FC Kansas City	3 (2018)
12	Taylor Lytle	United States	MF	(1989-03-31)March 31, 1989 (aged 31)	Sky Blue FC	3 (2018)
13	Chestley Strother	United States	MF	(1994-06-13)June 13, 1994 (aged 26)	Sundsvalls DFF	1 (2020)
14	Gaby Vincent	United States	DF	(1997-12-07)December 7, 1997 (aged 22)	University of Louisville	2 (2019)
17	Arielle Ship	United States	FW	(1995-05-02)May 2, 1995 (aged 25)	Washington Spirit	1 (2020)
18	Nicole Barnhart	United States	GK	(1981-10-10)October 10, 1981 (aged 38)	FC Kansas City	3 (2018)
19	Michelle Maemone	United States	DF	(1997-03-18)March 18, 1997 (aged 23)	Pepperdine University	2 (2019)
20	Mallory Weber	United States	FW	(1994-04-04)April 4, 1994 (aged 26)	Portland Thorns	2 (2019)
21	Verónica Boquete	Spain	FW	(1987-04-09)April 9, 1987 (aged 33)	Beijing BG Phoenix	2 (2019)
22	Madeline Nolf	United States	DF	(1996-03-29)March 29, 1996 (aged 24)	Penn State University	2 (2019)
24	Taylor Leach	United States	DF	(1992-01-19)January 19, 1992 (aged 28)	Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC	1 (2020)
25	Brittany Ratcliffe	United States	FW	(1994-02-07)February 7, 1994 (aged 26)	FC Kansas City	3 (2018)
29	Kate Del Fava	United States	FW	(1998-07-23)July 23, 1998 (aged 22)	Illinois State University	1 (2020)
38	Aminata Diallo	France	MF	(1995-04-03)April 3, 1995 (aged 25)	Paris Saint-Germain	1 (2020)
42	Raisa Strom-Okimoto	United States	FW	(1997-10-25)October 25, 1997 (aged 22)	University of Hawaii	2 (2019)
61	Melissa Lowder	United States	GK		Santa Clara University	2 (2019)
66	Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir	Iceland	MF	(1988-09-28)September 28, 1988 (aged 31)	Vålerenga	3 (2018)
	Michele Vasconcelos	United States	FW	(1994-05-11)May 11, 1994 (aged 26)	Chicago Red Stars	1 (2020)

Player transactions

As of September 11, 2020

Transfers in

Date	Player	Positions played	Previous club	Fee/notes	Ref.
11/05/19	Kyra Carusa	FW	Sky Blue FC	Re-Entry Wire	[13]
11/05/19	Cali Farquharson	FW	Washington Spirit	Re-Entry Wire	[13]
11/05/19	Arielle Ship	FW	Washington Spirit	Re-Entry Wire	[13]
01/06/20	Taylor Leach	DF	Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC	Signed	[14]
01/07/20	Chestley Strother	MF	Sundsvalls DFF	Signed	[15]
03/03/20	Elizabeth Ball	DF	Portland Thorns	Acquired in a trade with the Portland Thorns in exchange for Becky Sauerbrunn and allocation money.	[16]
03/11/20	Aminata Diallo	MF	Paris Saint-Germain	Signed on loan from Paris Saint-Germain.	[17]
09/10/20	Michele Vasconcelos	FW	Chicago Red Stars	Acquired in a trade with the Chicago Red Stars in exchange for $55,000 in allocation money.	[18]

Transfers out

Date	Player	Positions played	Destination club	Fee/notes	Ref.
12/12/19	Cali Farquharson	FW	KIF Örebro DFF	Waived	[19]
12/19/19	Makenzy Doniak	FW	Chicago Red Stars	Traded to the Chicago Red Stars, in exchange for Chicago's second round pick in the 2021 NWSL College Draft	[20]
01/06/20	Erika Tymrak	MF		Retired	[21]
01/08/20	Katie Stengel	FW	Houston Dash	Traded to the Houston Dash along with Utah's third round pick in the 2020 College Draft in exchange for Houston's second round pick in the 2020 and 2021 NWSL College Drafts	[22]
02/03/20	Mandy Laddish	MF		Retired	[23]
02/03/20	Becca Moros	DF		Waived	[23]
02/19/20	Sydney Miramontez	DF		Retired	[24]
03/03/20	Becky Sauerbrunn	DF	Portland Thorns	Traded to the Portland Thorns in exchange for Elizabeth Ball and allocation money.	[16]
09/09/20	Christen Press	FW	Manchester United	Signed with Manchester United in the FA Women's Super League, Utah retains her rights in the NWSL.	[25]

2020 NWSL College Draft

Main article: 2020 NWSL College Draft

Source: National Women's Soccer League ^[26]

Round	Pick	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Previous Team
Round 1	8		Tziarra King	F	North Carolina State University
Round 2	12		Kate Del Fava	M	Illinois State University
Round 4	31		Cyera Hintzen	F	University of Texas

References

1. "Here's everything you need to know about the Utah Royals' women's soccer league, the NWSL". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
2. "UTAH ROYALS FC PARTS WAYS WITH HEAD COACH LAURA HARVEY". January 6, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
3. "NWSL announces full 2020 season schedule". February 20, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
4. "NWSL announces remaining 2020 fall series schedule and CBS broadcast talent". September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
5. "Utah Royals looking to committee of forwards for goals after Christen Press opts out of Challenge Cup". June 29, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
6. "Canadian Desiree Scott pulls out of NWSL's Challenge Cup for personal reasons". June 30, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
7. "All of their national team players have opted out, so who's left for Utah Royals FC in fall opener?". September 19, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
8. "@itsmeglinehan" . Retrieved September 20, 2020.
9. "Utah Royals FC Signs MF Vero Boquete". rsl.com. January 4, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
10. "Three Utah Royals FC Players Change Numbers for 2019 Season". March 4, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
11. "URFC Signs Michelle Maemone, Madeline Nolf and Gaby Vincent to Supplemental Roster". April 17, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
12. "Utah Royals FC Promotes Three Players". July 24, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
13. "Utah Royals FC select 3 off the Re-Entry Wire". November 5, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
14. "Breaking: Utah Royals sign defender Taylor Leach". January 6, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
15. "Utah Royals FC Signs Midfielder Chestley Strother". January 7, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
16. "Utah Royals FC Acquires Elizabeth Ball from Portland Thorns FC". March 3, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
17. "Utah Royals FC Signs French Midfielder Aminata Diallo". March 11, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
18. "Utah Royals FC Acquires Forward Michele Vasconcelos from Chicago Red Stars". September 10, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
19. "KIF Örebro värvar in Cali Farquharson från Washington Spirit". December 19, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
20. "Makenzy Doniak traded to the Chicago Red Stars". December 19, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
21. "Utah Royals FC midfielder Erika Tymrak retires on day club confirms departure of head coach Laura Harvey". January 6, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
22. "Utah Royals FC Receives Two Draft Picks in Trade With the Houston Dash". January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
23. "Utah Royals FC Midfielder Mandy Laddish Announces Retirement". February 3, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
24. "Utah Royals FC Defender Sydney Miramontez Announces Retirement". February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
25. "CHRISTEN PRESS SIGNS FOR UNITED WOMEN". September 9, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
26. "2020 NWSL COLLEGE DRAFT ORDER". National Women's Soccer League . Retrieved March 21, 2020.