Provo's Orellana back from 'dark place,' home with Real Monarchs


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OREM — Real Monarchs forward Maikon Orellana was in a dark place.

The 22-year-old striker even contemplated giving up the game he loves after less-than-glamorous attempts at a career in Europe.

Two things kept him going: his family — and the one he’s come to find in Real Monarchs SLC.

“I think we’ve now become a family,” Orellana said of Real Salt Lake’s third-division affiliate. “None of us knew each other, and we were trying to become a family and a group. (Last year) everything was happening so fast, we didn’t have enough time to prepare ourselves.

The past year hasn’t been easy, either. After signing with the Monarchs, the club finished its inaugural season in 2015 just 7-8-13 and dead last in the Western Conference. It wasn’t the debut they planned, even with a late winning streak to end the season.

“I was in a kind of a dark place last year. I contemplated quitting the game for a whole year,” Orellana said Thursday as the Monarchs prepared to host Arizona United SC. “I didn’t feel like I was good enough.”

All that changed in the first game of the 2016 season. Real Monarchs were riding a six-game unbeaten streak from the end of 2015, its inaugural year that saw more downs than ups for the Salt Lake City expansion side.


I was in a kind of a dark place last year. I contemplated quitting the game for a whole year. I didn’t feel like I was good enough.

–Real Monarchs forward Maikon Orellana


In the waning minutes of the club’s season opener against St. Louis FC, Orellana caught the break he needed. The native of El Salvador tallied the game-winner in the 90th minute to give Real Monarchs a 1-0 victory over the USL expansion side and has his team rolling with a 2-0-1 start ahead of Friday’s match against Arizona at 7 p.m. MT at Utah Valley University’s Clyde Field.

“That last minute goal gave me what I needed,” said Orellana, tied as the league’s No. 2 scorer with three goals and an assist. “When I came in and scored, it was such a big jump for me. Positivity is always good, and I stayed positive so that good things happened.”

Since then, Orellana has been on a tear. He struck for a goal and an assist in a 3-3 draw with L.A. Galaxy II and found the back of the net again April 9 against Tulsa Roughnecks FC.

Orellana moved to Provo when he was 9 years old as his family fled the violence of their native El Salvador. It wasn’t an easy journey — he and his brother had to cross the border into Guatemala, traverse Mexico, then come through Tijuana before re-joining the clan in Provo.

Orellana played two years at Provo High before accepting an invitation to join the RSL-Arizona Academy in 2010. He signed his first pro contract in 2012 with Denmark’s Brondby, but did not make a first-team appearance before moving to Switzerland a year later, scoring three goals in 15 appearances with Alianza.

Still, injuries and homesickness racked the young aspiring soccer player, and Orellana contemplated quitting. Then, he found a new home back on the Wasatch Front, moving closer to home and thriving with RSL’s developmental squad and the coach who gave him his first opportunity.

USL soccer
Real Monarchs vs. Arizona United SC
When: Friday, 7 p.m. MT
Where: Clyde Field, Utah Valley University
Admission: $7

“He’s at home,” said Monarchs coach Freddy Juarez, who also coached Orellana from 2010-12 at the Casa Grande, Arizona-based academy. “When he was at the academy, he had a lot of injuries. Then he went to Europe, and Mikey’s back with a good group. More importantly, he’s understanding what we are asking of him as far as the system.

“He’s competent and understanding, and now it’s relating into confidence in his play.”

Orellana is one of several Monarchs players making the jump from college and academy status to the professional ranks. The leap took most of last season to make the adjustment — but it’s finally bearing fruit.

“We’re that gap, so there are guys who think they are professionals but they need that different mentality,” Juarez said. “It’s not a quick process like everyone wants it to be. We had a younger squad, and with a younger squad it takes a little longer.”

Orellana has represented El Salvador at the Under-20 level, and he has one cap with the senior team in 2014. This year’s Monarchs schedule will take him across the Western Conference, as well as to home games at the University of Utah, UVU and in Reno.

But no matter where he goes, it will be with family.

“They supported me in everything I did, even making music,” Orellana said. “I gained confidence and put it in soccer. They liked it, and made me feel like this is more than just a team. It’s a family.”

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