The Roayls take the pitch for the first time EVER this weekend. Will they start with a bang? One can only hope. The opponent is considered one of the better sides in the league, so the ask is quite large. I'm stoked. Can't wait to see what Harvey has in store. For those that like that kind of thing, there is a watch party at Legends that the club has been advertising quite a bit the last few days.
In the NWSL forums of big soccer I have seen a couple of people forecasting a 3-0 loss for the Royals and most seem to think that the Royals belong in 6th or 7th place on the season. That seems to tell me that most don't really think much of this team. KC didn't make the playoffs last season, but made the final, I think 2 years ago? So this team could probably go either way. Our strengths seem to be in defense, so I would assume a 3-0 would be a tough result. Though the 0 goals might be real with our unknown situation up top.
Pulling this comment in here, as it's about as good of a lineup idea as any of us short timers to NWSL might have. I doubt we see Corsie start in game 1 as she JUST barely signed with the team. Interesting that A - Rod isn't listed as the starter up top, but she has missed the past 2 seasons, so there is a lot of unknowns there. I think the midfield is accurate as far as I can tell. We will definitely see Scott, Matheson and Gunny a lot. Sauerbrunn and O'Hara are both obvious starters. The GK position seems a close one to me as both were starters for their team last season and the "underdog choice" is being talked about as a future USWNT GK. That is as far as my very limited knowledge goes (and I am likely wrong with much of this...)
Utah being picked so low does not mean most people think it's a bad team. On the contrary, despite some concerns, this is actually a good looking team. I picked them 6th because even with the improvements made, overall it's still not as strong as the 5 teams above them. It's hard to gain ground when everyone else is also improved. Utah's defence, while it has the potential to be good, also lacks speed. The only fast player is O'Hara. And with the pace that Orlando has up top, the defence will be hard pressed to keep them at bay.
There's a joke in here somewhere about this being further validation of how the Real soccer family will feature a common playing style. :^/
Say no more. Yikes. Getting back to this game, word is that Smith is going to start in goal tomorrow.
What are the broadcast options for the game? I found one article on the Royals website that says it is broadcast nationally. Does that mean Lifetime?
Found it. Game is on KMYU and KSL app. https://www.rsl.com/post/2018/03/22/utah-royals-fc-unveils-inaugural-season-broadcast-options
Starting XI: Smith Moros Sauerbrunn Corsie O'Hara Bowen Gunny Scott Thorsnes Ratcliffe Matheson I was pretty close with my prediction. 8 of 11 without any game details available is not bad.
Not the worst half. Less possession than I'm sure Harvey would like, but the defense did a good job of containing Orlando's front 3. I knew the bad officiating would strike eventually, but I didn't think it would be this quickly.
I thought they started holding on to possession a lot better right before the end of the half. Hope they can build on that and attack more in the 2nd half
Really unfortunate we ended up in a tie due to a bad call. Would've been crazy if we had won with that last volley.
That was fun. Too bad about the blown handling call but I can see how the ref would make that mistake. Not a bad result for our first game as an expansion team.
Huh...so one of my former students is apparently a Royals player. That was a bit of a surprise. Good for her!