World Cup veterans return to Utah Royals FC in the thick of playoff chase

(Scott G Winterton, KSL)


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SANDY — There will come a time when Utah Royals FC defender Rachel Corsie will look back on her nation’s inaugural World Cup run, on the triumphs and the disappointments, the trials and the desperate results.

But now is not the time for that.

It’s not the time to reflect on the growth of Scottish football, Corsie said — even if the World Cup marked a monumental step forward in the game. Prior to the team’s foray into France, Scotland had scarcely played in front of a crowd of 4,500 fans, she mentioned last week after returning to Utah.

That all changed with their first game against England in Nice.

“We’re a small nation, and we’re still growing in our women’s football support and infrastructure,” Corsie told local media upon returning. “In that first game, there were 10,000 Scotland fans in the stadium. It was something new.”

But there’s too much to do to simply wait around and reminisce.

In that regard, Corsie — like her five Utah teammates who have been missing for over a month while playing in the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France — is behind. She watched from afar, from hotel rooms in Nice, Paris and other parts of the French countryside, as the Royals climbed up the table, briefly led all takers in the National Women’s Soccer League, and currently sit fifth in the league with a 5-4-2 record, but within three points of all four teams above them in the standings.

Still, that’s not where Utah Royals FC wants to be.

That’s not where Corsie wants to be.

So again, it’s time to get to work.

“It was a difficult few weeks that followed, and it has been really great to be back with the team,” Corsie said. “Everyone has been so encouraging, so kind, and that’s helped. Just to put your boots back on and get back on the field, you have a new goal now.”

Ditto for Canadian midfielder Desiree Scott and New Zealand’s Katie Bowen, who almost annoyedly answered questions from local reporters last week about the latest American conquest at the Women’s World Cup, their fourth since winning the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991.

It's not that she hates the USA; she's had friends on the U.S. national team, both with Utah and other teams she's played in the past. Bowen just wants to get back to work and try to win a championship with the Royals.

“Obviously they are the No. 1 team in the world,” the New Zealand international said of the United States. “You expect them to at least get to the final. They’re a great team, they had a great tournament, they won. Now it’s back to the NWSL.”

There’s a lot of work for the Royals, too. The club is currently in the midst of a three-match winless streak after Friday’s 1-0 loss to league-worst Sky Blue FC in stoppage time. And while head coach Laura Harvey saw significant improvement from a 1-0 home loss to Reign FC that preceded a bye week, she still knows there is more the club can do to get back on track.

“I think that losing two on the bounce is tough to take, both in different ways,” Harvey said in New Jersey. “But we’ve got two home games now, we’ve got to bounce back, and we’ve got to show some more quality.

“I asked a lot in terms of work ethic after the Reign game, and I think they showed that. But our quality on the ball and how we stop teams has got to be better.”

Utah's Gunnhildur Jonsdottir celebrates with Desiree Scott after beating Chicago at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy on Friday, May 3, 2019. (Photo: Laura Seitz, KSL)
Utah's Gunnhildur Jonsdottir celebrates with Desiree Scott after beating Chicago at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy on Friday, May 3, 2019. (Photo: Laura Seitz, KSL)

Again, there’s still a lot of work to do.

“The girls did well while we were gone,” Bowen said. “But I just want to get the season back on track, and chase that championship.”

Utah even looks a little bit different for some of the teammates; the U.S. contingent of Becky Sauerbrunn, Kelley O’Hara and Christen Press rounded the national media circuit as four-time World Cup champions, and a potential lawsuit involving equal pay is currently in mediation with the U.S. Soccer Federation. To further those Royal changes, center back Sam Johnson abruptly retired from soccer at the midway mark of the season.

On the field, the United States has a victory tour scheduled to kick off in August, taking the Americans away from their NWSL clubs for an even lengthier period.

Of course, not seeing Canada’s biggest rival in women’s soccer might not be such a bad thing, Scott joked.

“It’s still pretty fresh,” said the defensive midfielder nicknamed 'The Destroyer' by her national team. “Obviously, we’re disappointed to not have gone further. It’s still fresh and raw … but we might not talk about it a little bit.

“I might not talk to the U.S. at all. Just kidding. I’m happy for my teammates who won, for the Royals.”

The league to which Corsie, Scott and Bowen are returning is a bit different, too. After opening the season without a national television agreement, the NWSL signed a contract with ESPN that will put 14 matches — including the playoff semifinals and championship on ESPN2 — on the Worldwide Leader in Sports.

Additionally, Budweiser came on as a national advertising partner, a multiyear agreement that, while details of the agreement are not known, suggests a massive boon to the league as it obtained naming rights to the championship game and league MVP award.

Television ratings are up. Sponsorship is up. Even the number of women’s soccer fans and investment is up, with NWSL expansion rumors beginning to follow the American’s win over the Netherlands in the World Cup final.

And maybe that’s the biggest “World Cup bump” the NWSL needs right now.

“Hopefully people come out and support this league,” Scott said. “You have the world’s best playing in this league from countries all over the world. We need the support to continue the success of it.”

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