Utah Royals unlock offense in 4-1 win over North Carolina for back-to-back wins

CARY, N.C. — Utah Royals FC scored the most goals in club history Saturday night to clinch back-to-back wins for the first time since a three-match winless skid surrounding the FIFA men’s World Cup break.

Nuria Rábano had two assists, and Mina Tanaka scored her fifth goal of the season on Cloé Lacasse’s team-high fourth assist to help Utah Royals FC to a 4-1 win over the North Carolina Courage at WakeMed Soccer Park.

Lacasse later added her team-high sixth goal of the season with a penalty kick in second-half stoppage time as the Royals (9-3-4, 30 points) climbed within 1 point of Gotham FC at the top of the NWSL table.

Utah’s center back pairing of Tatumn Milazzo and Kate Del Fava also scored for Utah, which got five saves from goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn including a second-half save that would’ve impressed Scott Sterling.

“That face save was crucial,” Lacasse said. “It was a big moment … and we depend on those big moments from our keepers here at the Royals.”

The center back who celebrated her 28th birthday on Thursday and 10,000 minutes in NWSL play Saturday didn’t just score goals, either. Del Fava showed why she has earned the captain’s armband from the jump with a sliding tackle in the first half to save a breakaway, and took a shot to the stomach in the second half to save another — all while nearly taking a penalty before deferring to Lacasse to convert a key moment in her season.

“She’s been amazing,” Utah coach Jimmy Coenraets said of Del Fava, who was drafted by the original Royals before moving to Kansas City with the club after the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup in Utah. “What this group is — and she’s a great example of it — is humble. We’ll enjoy this win, but we also know that the hustle will start tomorrow. We have to work again.

“Everyone understands there is no second of rest in this league.”

Nuria Rábano picks out Kate Del Fava at the back post for her first goal of the season! 🎯 pic.twitter.com/e6rjFKy3lv

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 25, 2026

Del Fava sets tone early in Utah Royals’ road win

After making just one change to starting lineup from last week’s 1-0 win over Orlando, Del Fava gave the Royals the early lead, scoring her first goal of the season and third of her NWSL career with a glancing header from Rábano’s corner kick in the sixth minute to strike the early advantage.

It’s the 16th first-half goal conceded by North Carolina, which entered Saturday’s match in ninth place in the NWSL’s 16-team standings.

The Courage out-shot Utah 9-6 in the first half and held the Royals to 0.56 expected goals (xG), including Mina Tanaka’s close-range attempt from Cloe Lacasse’s corner kick that Maycee Bell headed off the line in the 18th minute.

But Mandy McGlynn made four saves before the break, and Tatumn Milazzo doubled the advantage in the 34th minute with a glancing finish from Nuria Rabano off a set piece.

North Carolina hadn’t conceded a set-piece goal prior to Saturday, when the Royals scored two as Rábano recorded her first multi-assist game since the Spanish international arrived in Utah from VfL Wolfsburg ahead of the 2025 season.

“I think we tried to do hard work in the set pieces,” Rábano said. “We are happy with the team, and the set pieces today. Hard work and props to my teammates, and the whole team.”

Evelyn Ijeh pulled one back for Carolina (6-3-6, 21 points) in the 55th minute, finishing a chaotic sequence in front of goal with a left-footed shot that pulled the hosts back into contention.

It was the Courage’s first goal since a 3-1 win July 4 over Seattle, which preceded back-to-back shutout losses to the Washington Spirit and Bay FC.

But Tanaka restored the two-goal lead 10 minutes later, rising up like a salmon to head home Lacasse’s cross in the 65th minute to push the lead back to 3-1 with her team-high fifth goal of the season.

An absolutely STUNNING header from Tanaka 🤩#NCvUTA | @UtahRoyalsFC pic.twitter.com/WqINQUXagB

— NWSL on ION (@IONNWSL) July 26, 2026

“Mina’s probably one of our stronger aerial threats, even though she’s not the tallest,” Lacasse said of the 5-foot-5 Japanese international playmaker. “I just saw her wide open, and decided to take the opportunity.”

Lacasse earned a penalty in the second minute of second-half stoppage time, drawing a foul off Ryan Williams in the box that she converted herself — after Del Fava made like she was going to take it herself — for the 4-1 scoreline.

What it means: Utah Royals climb table, exorcise demons

The highest-scoring road win in Utah history pushes the Royals back up the 16-team NWSL table, into a tie for second place with Washington — though the Spirit (9-3-3, 30 points) have a game in hand in Sunday’s 5 p.m. MT kickoff against Denver Summit FC.

It’s the most points in a single season in Utah’s all-time history, though it hasn’t come without difficulties.

The Royals returned from the international break with back-to-back losses, conceding eight goals in a three-match winless skid dating back to a 2-2 draw with Portland prior to the FIFA men’s World Cup.

It was a concern for Coenraets, the second-year manager admitted; who wouldn’t be such? But the turning point wasn’t in a single player, one tactic, or even a sole coaching decision.

It came from a singular attitude: Having the right people in the building, Coenraets said after his team conceded just one goal in the past two matches.

“I would invite everyone to walk in our building, and they’d see everybody doing what they should do,” he added. “I gave a shoutout during halftime to Cece Delzer, who was pressing four players, all the way to (the goalkeeper). We had to find a way to press her; it requires effort, but we also know Paige Cronin is getting closer and closer and we (had that depth).

“But everyone is doing more than their jobs … I think this team thrives off the team element, and it’s a pleasure to coach.”

The attitude spreads to up and down the bench, to the coaching staff — and even to the video analyst who asked Coenraets while the players were celebrating a win in a postgame locker room: “When do you want the film from this one?”

That’s the attitude of these Royals: Everyone has a job, and when the job is done — there’s a new job to be had.

“We do hard work in the trainings, and try to be compact in the back line,” Rábano said. “I think the hard work with the center backs and the fullbacks to the forwards is amazing.”

Utah returns home Wednesday to host Washington (7 p.m. MST, KMYU/NWSL+).