RSL Women rekindle rivalry in league title match

RSL Women rekindle rivalry in league title match

(Travis J Photography/RSL Women)


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SANDY — In the semi-professional world of the Women's Premier Soccer League, midfielder Sara Cowley knows there is one thing to play for: a championship.

She'll do that with her Real Salt Lake Women teammates Saturday afternoon.

Cowley and the RSL Women will play the San Francisco Nighthawks in the championship match of the WPSL Elite at 3 p.m. MT Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium, the first of three-straight matches by the RSL organization this weekend.

"There's a lot of excitement," Cowley said. "This is why we do what we do, to reach the pinnacle of the sport, and we've set goals and we want to reach those goals. The excitement is in the air, and the girls can feel it."

The match will be live streamed on KSL.com.

RSL Women went 5-2-1 in the Big Sky division of the summer's league after moving away from the Nighthawks' division and the west coast. The club will rekindle a rivalry with San Francisco that has taken both clubs to the tightest of matches both in the regular season and the postseason tournament — and is another reason to get up for the game.

"We always find ourselves meeting them somewhere," midfielder Annie Hawkins said of the Nighthawks (5-4). "They're a great team, and always challenging. They've been in the league about as long as we have, and they have super talented players. It's become a natural rivalry, and it's fun that we get to play them this year in the title game."


It's always an honor to play at Rio Tinto Stadium, and a doubleheader is cool with the Monarchs, too. You feel a part of the RSL family, which is the point of all this.

–Annie Hawkins, RSL Women


The highest level women's team in Utah that plays in the second division of pro women's soccer in the United States will set up a 7:30 p.m. kick between Real Monarchs and the Orange County Blues at Rio Tinto Stadium. In between, RSL is hosting a watch party at the pavilion outside the stadium for the first team's road tilt at D.C. United at 5 p.m. MT.

"It's always an honor to play at Rio Tinto Stadium, and a doubleheader is cool with the Monarchs, too," Hawkins said. "You feel a part of the RSL family, which is the point of all this."

RSL Women assistant coach Mark Davis agreed.

"I think for our organization, it's big time, to have the support of Real Salt Lake and to play at Rio Tinto," Davis said. "It means the world to us to play in a stadium with so much tradition and so much pride."

Davis, a lifelong soccer fan who had season tickets for RSL's inaugural season in 2005, got emotional when thinking about the chance to help his team to a title at a field that means so much to him — as a fan and a coach.

"It gives me chills," said Davis, who lives in Hawaii. "I've been a soccer guy my whole life, and I've been (a fan) since RSL came to the valley. To get this opportunity to play for a championship is extremely special to me, to my family, and to this coaching staff."

His players echoed the sentiment.

"We've worked so hard, and so many of these girls have been a part of it for so long," Hawkins said. "We're more than teammates; we're like family. To have these moments is why we do it.

"To play it at Rio Tinto, the only game we've had (at the stadium) this season, is huge. It's a big finale."

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