Royals home opener ends in heartbreak, San Diego steals win in Utah
Mar 22, 2026, 8:53 PM | Updated: Mar 23, 2026, 6:27 am
(Photo courtesy of Utah Royals FC)
(Photo courtesy of Utah Royals FC)
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Royals appeared primed for at least a draw in the club’s home opener on Sunday, but some late chaos resulted in a San Diego Wave win at America First Field.
Lara Prasnikar was Utah’s lone goal-scorer, finding the back of the net in the 67th minute for her first NWSL score.
Final pic.twitter.com/adXoZFHwJt
— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) March 23, 2026
First Half
The Royals came out of the gates strong, taking the first shot of the match less than 60 seconds after kickoff and saving San Diego’s first attempt in the 5th minute.
The early burst came to a swift end, though. San Diego applied consistent pressure, and in the 18th minute, they broke through.
A poor back pass from the Royals was jumped by Dudinha, and she buried her shot in the center of the net.
DUDINHA DELIVERS 🇧🇷👏 pic.twitter.com/XlCJ0LrfVB
— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) March 22, 2026
Less than two minutes later, Dudinha nearly doubled the Wave’s lead, but Utah goalkeeper Mia Justus was able to make the save.
The Royals’ first shot on goal came in the 28th minute from Cece Delzer, but San Diego was able to keep the clean sheet with a routine save.
The next threatening chance, from either side, didn’t come until the first half’s stoppage time. It was San Diego again, and Justus grabbed her third save of the half.
The first 45′ ended with the Royals leading in time of possession and total shots. But San Diego was a well-oiled machine, with all four of their shot attempts being on target.
Work to do after the break pic.twitter.com/mAazqoTFOs
— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) March 23, 2026
Second Half
That script was completely flipped in the second half.
San Diego had all the volume, while Utah sacrificed quantity to put together more calculated attacks.
The first 20 minutes of the half saw a handful of promising attacks from both Utah and San Diego, but none enough to change the score.
That was until the 67th minute when Prasnikar capped off a hectic sequence in the six-yard box by sneaking a shot into the bottom right corner.
We love a history making goal 🥹
Lara’s the first Slovenian to score in the @NWSL! pic.twitter.com/tnbTB0laAK
— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) March 23, 2026
The next 15 minutes saw smooth sailing for the Royals.
But the ship started to sink in the 82nd when Tatumn Milazzo was shown a second yellow card, leaving Utah shorthanded.
It only took five minutes of action for San Diego to capitalize. Lia Godfrey put the road side back out in front as regulation time dwindled to an end.
At a player disadvantage, nine minutes of stoppage time weren’t enough to make any waves, and the final whistle was blown.
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The Utah Royals head back out on the road to take on the Washington Spirit at Audi Field on Wednesday, March 25. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. MT.
Follow the Utah Royals 2026 schedule here.
Live radio calls of every Utah Royals game can be found on sports.ksl.com. Select games will be broadcast on the KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM/1280 AM) and KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM/1160 AM).
