Royals GK Mandy Haught Saves Back-To-Back Penalty Kicks By Courage
Mar 22, 2024, 9:08 PM | Updated: 9:12 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Royals goalkeeper Mandy Haught saved consecutive penalty kicks by the North Carolina Courage in the second half.
Mandy Haught comes up big for Royals
The Royals hosted the Courage at America First Field in Sandy, Utah on Friday, March 22.
Early in the second half, the Courage pressed the Royals and Utah was called for a foul inside the box, setting up a penalty try for North Carolina.
Haught dove to her right and blocked a kick by Malia Berkely in the 58th minute.
59' | MANDY. HAUGHT. 😤#UTAvNC | 2-1
— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) March 23, 2024
After the deflection, Utah’s Addisyn Merrick was called for another foul inside the box, giving North Carolina another chance for an equalizer.
Then, Haught dove to her left and halted another penalty kick by Berkely.
Biiiiig PK stop from Mandy Haught! 🚫 pic.twitter.com/hUzi9kgoMY
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 23, 2024
Haught’s big saves kept Utah’s lead intact at 2-1 in the 59th minute of action.
Match Info
The Courage arrived in Utah after opening their 2024 slate with a 5-1 victory over the Houston Dash on March 16. North Carolina is currently ranked as the best team in ESPN.com’s NWSL Power Rankings.
Utah’s match against North Carolina is broadcast on KMYU, NWSL+, KSL Sports Zone, and sports.ksl.com.
LISTEN LIVE: @UtahRoyalsFC are back home to face @TheNCCourage on the @kslsports app, @KSLSportsZone (97.5 FM), and:https://t.co/KeyFQPmFkw pic.twitter.com/lUDcfGHakQ
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 23, 2024
Royals this season
Utah opened the season with a 2-0 loss at home to the Chicago Red Stars.
RELATED: Utah Royals FC Drop Season Opener To Chicago In Front Of Sold-Out Crowd
With the loss, the Royals kicked off their second stint as an NWSL team with an 0-0-1 record.
The state of Utah loved the #ReturnOfRoyalty. 👑#URFC #NWSL https://t.co/lyRQdbc3Wx
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 21, 2024
About Utah Royals FC
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The Royals announced the club’s return to Utah and the National Women’s Soccer League for the 2024 season in March 2023.
Originally founded in November 2017, the Royals played in Utah from 2018-20. The franchise was moved to Kansas City in 2020 and plays in Missouri under the “Currents” nickname.
The Royals were first established in Sandy, Utah as an NWSL expansion club. The team played as the Royals for three seasons and held its home matches at America First Field, formerly known as Rio Tinto Stadium, which was also the home of Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake.
In December 2020, the NWSL announced that the Royals would cease to operate in Utah and the club’s players were transferred to Kansas City.
it's all in the prep pic.twitter.com/8rXGyZhZYW
— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) March 22, 2024
In January 2022, a new Real Salt Lake ownership group, led by David Blitzer and Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, took hold of the option to bring an NWSL club back to the state.
The Royals kicked off their second stint in Utah on March 16.
Kyle Ireland is a Sports Producer and Locals in the NFL Insider for sports.ksl.com. Listen to Ireland on Yards After College: An NFL Podcast. Follow him on X (@kyleireland), Threads (@kyleirelandksl), and Instagram (@kyleirelandksl).
