Utah Royals win big, do not move on in Summer Cup

SANDY, Utah -- On Wednesday, July 31, the Utah Royals played Tijuana in the final group stage of the NWSL Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup.

The Royals won said matchup with a score of 5 to 1. Rookie Brecken Mozingo had a brace, while Paige Monoghan, Ally Sentnor, and Hannah Betfort all added one goal a piece. The result won Utah the group they were in, however, they did not advance to the semi-finals. There were 5 groups and only four slots in the next round. Utah needed Gotham FC to lose on Friday, August 2, but Gotham won their game 3-0.

Tijuana opened the scoring in the third minute when rookie Olivia Griffits hit a soft ball back to starting goalkeeper Christina Roque. The ball didn’t make it to Roque. Instead, it was intercepted by Tijuana and ended up in the back of the Royals' goal. The Royals had multiple chances after but couldn’t put one away until the 20th minute when team captain Paige Monaghan slotted one past the Tijuana goalkeeper. The Royals continued to have chances until the 44th minute when Hannah Betfort slid the second goal for Utah into the back of the net.