Utah Royals FC Rookie Tziarra King Levels Match Late Against Houston Dash

HERRIMAN, Utah – Utah Royals FC rookie forward Tziarra King couldn’t have asked for a better start to her professional debut.

Late in the second half, King leveled the match at three goals apiece with a strike in the 89th minute.

The Royals had a free kick about 30 yards away from the goal on the right side when the ball was delivered into the box and traveled to the far side where King just tapped the ball into the net with her head.

89' – HAVE A GOAL ON YOUR DEBUT!

3-3 | #URFC pic.twitter.com/vSxPwZqA92

— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) June 30, 2020

King was the eight overall pick in the NWSL Draft by the Royals.

Utah stormed back after trailing 3-1 midway through the second half. The Royals scored the first match of the game in the 35th minute when forward Amy Rodriguez tracked down the ball on the right side of the goal when she fired a pass into the box. All that Diana Matheson had to do was lightly tap the ball into the back of the net past the Houston Dash goalkeeper.

The Dash scored three unanswered goals before Vero Boquete scored the second goal for Utah in the 82nd minute off of a free kick at the top of the 18-yard box.

The match ended with a 3-3 draw.

Update: COMEBACK IS REAL. 👏@UtahRoyalsFC make it 3-3 pic.twitter.com/scw8woFy6I

— CBS Sports Soccer (@CBSSportsSoccer) June 30, 2020

It was the season opening match for the Royals as 8 teams in the National Women’s Soccer League are playing a tournament in Herriman at the Real Salt Lake Soccer Academy.

The Royals match against the Dash is the third match of the preliminary round. The Challenge Cup started with a 2-1 win for the North Carolina Courage over Portland Thorns FC. Later on Saturday, the Washington Spirit defeated the Chicago Red Stars by a final score of 2-1.

All matches of the NWSL Challenge Cup can be seen on CBS All Access.