Utah Royals win 3rd straight with 3-0 shutout in Seattle

SEATTLE — Paige Cronin didn’t need much time to show she was 100% Sunday night.

The Utah Royals captain scored the fastest goal in franchise history as the Beehive State’s NWSL franchise cruised to a 3-0 win over Seattle Reign to capture a third consecutive victory Sunday night at Lumen Field.

Narumi Miura and Cloé Lacasse each added a goal for Utah (3-1-2, 10 points) in the club’s first win at Seattle since 2019. Mia Justus made four saves to earn her second consecutive shutout.

But Cronin set the tone just 50 seconds into the match — and then, Utah did it again (and again).

“We were excited to be out there together again,” Lacasse said. “It had been a hot second, and we knew we wanted to press them high and very aggressively. It paid off right from the get-go.

“We got a lot of injured players back, and when you get your group being so cohesive again in training it makes it super competitive,” the Canadian international later added. “I think that showed today; it’s an honor to represent this club. We’re going to go out there, take every situation, and capitalize. I think every player that stepped on the pitch today, whether starting or subs, did that.”

Cronin (née Monaghan) wasted little time in her first start back from injury, finishing a pass after Mina Tanaka forced a turnover off the Reign’s back line to score in the opening minute of the match.

Miura doubled the advantage in the seventh minute with a shot from distance that caromed off Jess Fishlock to put the visitors in front, 2-0 with her first goal in her first minutes since joining the club from Washington in the offseason.

“I think our pressing was very good today,” Miura said. “We were all not he same page and had energy; we knew we were going to score from pressing.”

Added Lacasse: “It’s not every day that you score, what was it, 50 seconds in? It was pretty incredible to get off to a good start like that.”

Lacasse made it 3-0 with a finish from Ana Tejada in the 45th minute to lift Utah to three first-half goals for just the fifth time in franchise history.

Fishlock, the Seattle legend and captain, went down with a non-contact injury before the 70th minute. The only field player to have featured in every season of the NWSL since its founding 13 years ago had to be carried from the field with an apparent ankle injury.

That wasn’t the only injury.

Utah goalkeeper Mia Justus received treatment for a lower-leg injury after making a diving save in the 73rd minute. But the second-year keeper who kept her starting job after Mandy McGlynn returned last week from a hand injury remained in the match even as McGlynn warmed up on the sideline.

Justus exited about 10 minutes later, giving way to McGlynn to make her season debut to split the shutout with her former backup goalkeeper who finished the match with a wrap on her leg — and then walked off, albeit a bit gingerly at times.

“Some tough choices; it’s the situation you want to be in as a coach,” said Utah manager Jimmy Coenraets of the goalkeeper decision. “We had to make some choices about who was going to play in this game, knowing that Mandy did a really good job in the past two weeks.

“We went with Mia for this particular week, and we wanted to see how she functions under pressure. I think she did a great job, doing what she had to do and then a little bit more.”

Next up

Utah stays on the road next week, traveling to Angel City FC on Saturday, May 2. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. MT on ION.

The Royals return home to host the Houston Dash on Wednesday, May 6, the second of three games in eight days.

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You can find KSL Sports coverage of Utah Royals FC here.