Despite early lead, Utah Royals FC lose 2-1 to Houston Dash

Utah Royals FC played the Houston Dash in their fourth match of the season this week. Utah went into this game missing 5 international players to World Cup call ups. Missing Desiree Scott, Diana Matheson, Kelley O’Hara, Christen Press and Becky Sauerbrunn, Utah started a very young lineup. Despite this, Utah came off strong in this game.

Utah would get the first goal of this one in the 29’ minute. Off a breakaway, Amy Rodriguez slotted it home to give Utah the lead. But Rachel Daly would tie it for Houston in the 42’, being the first goal Utah conceded in 2019. And before halftime, Sam Johnson was shown yellow for a bad foul.

After the half, things slowed down a lot for Utah. They were struggling to find a rhythm and ultimately gave up another goal in the 50’.

Utah continued to struggle at this point. They were unable to get many opportunities and really anything coming out of the midfield. The absence of Desiree Scott began to show a little bit in the second half.

The game was relatively uneventful up until the 90th minute when Daly was shown red for violent conduct.

This match would end 2-1 in favor of Houston and give Utah their first loss of 2019.