Utah Royals bounce back with 2-1 win over North Carolina Courage

SANDY — Jimmy Coenraets didn’t show his players a single clip from last Sunday’s loss to Angel City.

A week later, there was plenty he wanted them to remember.

The Utah Royals responded to one of the strangest losses of their season with a composed 2-1 win over the North Carolina Courage on Sunday at America First Field, getting goals from Cloe Lacasse and Cece Delzer while preventing NWSL-leading scorer Ashley Sanchez from deciding the match.

The victory was Utah’s club-record eighth at America First Field this season and the 25th NWSL victory of Coenraets’ career, making him just the 12th coach in league history to reach the mark.

“We gave them two days off after Angel City,” Coenraets said. “First day in, nobody talked about Angel City. We didn’t show one image. We didn’t show one clip.

“The first thing we did is like, ‘Look, here’s where we’re going this weekend. This is North Carolina. Here’s how we’re gonna beat them.’”

Another record for the URFC history books 👑🏠 pic.twitter.com/jcLL9q9JMG

— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) September 28, 2026

Lacasse strikes first

The plan started paying off in the 17th minute.

Madison Hammond intercepted an outlet pass and dished to Tanaka, who played the ball wide to Miyabi.

Multiple Royals flooded the box, with Kiana Palacios and Cece Delzer making runs to open space at the back post.

Lacasse separated from her defender, rose to meet Miyabi’s service and snapped a header past Kailen Sheridan to put Utah in front.

When asked about her goal, Lacasse, in typical fashion, shined a light on a teammate while using self-deprecating humor to describe her own contribution.

“Miyabi’s been working on her crossing a lot after sessions,” Lacasse said. “I’ve been, of course, really focusing on my aerial abilities, so I’m glad I was able to showcase that tonight.”

North Carolina entered with 48 goals, led by Sanchez’s 19, but Utah repeatedly forced the Courage away from the middle of the field and into areas where the Royals wanted them.

“I think we played to win,” Coenraets said. “They maybe played not to lose.”

North Carolina found its answer in the 37th minute.

Gianna Paul raced down the right side and got a step on Nuria Rábano before cutting in front of the defender and going down in the box under contact. The referee immediately pointed to the spot, giving Ashley Sanchez a chance to make history.

Royals goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn read the shot correctly and dove to her right, but Sanchez buried the penalty perfectly low and inside the post for her 20th goal of the season, pulling North Carolina level at 1-1 and tying Temwa Chawinga’s NWSL single-season record set in 2024.

Miyabi drew much of the responsibility for dealing with Sanchez and had a message for her coach after allowing the Courage star a clear look at goal early.

“She looked at me, she was like, ‘Will never happen again,’” Coenraets said.

Sanchez wasn’t completely silenced, however, and McGlynn was there when she broke free.

Halftime video work pays off

With the match tied, Utah’s coaching staff noticed something.

North Carolina’s two attacking midfielders were aggressively stepping toward Utah’s holding midfielders, leaving space between the lines. When a Courage center back stepped forward to deal with a Royal dropping into that space, another opening appeared behind.

The staff showed the players the pattern at halftime.

Twenty minutes later, they used it to win the game.

Tanaka received the ball with North Carolina pulled forward and spotted Delzer breaking into the space behind the Courage defense. Tanaka slipped a delicately weighted ball through, leaving Delzer isolated with the onrushing Sheridan.

She ran onto the ball and one-timed it through the keeper’s legs for the matchwinner.

“I think one day we should show it,” Coenraets said of the halftime footage. “We showed, ‘Look, if we can find this pattern, we’re gonna score one like this.’

“And that’s how we scored in the second half.”

After several stops around the NWSL, Coenraets believes Delzer has found a home in Utah.

“I think we’re seeing, in my opinion, for the first time in a few years, we’re seeing a Cece that’s high on confidence,” Coenraets said. “I don’t think there are many players that would do better in that position, in that role at the minute.”

McGlynn finished with five saves, including one shortly after Sanchez’s penalty that kept the match level going into halftime. Sanchez picked a pocket and squared the ball into the box for Erica Meg Parkinson, who laid it off for Riley Jackson. Jackson lashed a shot that seemed destined to sting the strings, but McGlynn dove low to her right and pushed it around the post.

Then in the 59th minute, Sanchez drove down the left with three Royals collapsing around her and still managed to leather a shot toward the upper corner. McGlynn leaped and got a hand to it, guiding the ball over the crossbar for a corner before claiming the ensuing service.

Utah’s commitment to defending as a team did the rest, funneling the Courage away from the areas they wanted to attack.

Madison Hammond called it “emotional control.”

“Even when they had a lot of the ball, it still felt like when we didn’t have the ball, we were forcing them into the positions that we wanted them to,” Hammond said. “Instead of just letting them play wherever they wanted.”

The win gave Utah its third series sweep of the season and established a new high-water mark at home.

But Coenraets wasn’t interested in reflecting on milestones or looking too far down the road with four regular-season matches remaining.

“This is not when I get stressful,” Coenraets said. “This is when I get hungry.”

The Royals travel to face Racing Louisville on Saturday before the NWSL pauses for the international break.