Utah Royals FC announce full schedule for franchise's second season

SANDY — Utah Royals FC enjoyed its share of successes during the franchise’s inaugural season last year.

Finishing just 2 points outside of the playoffs in the Nation Women’s Soccer League, the team finished second nationally in attendance, with 9,466 fans per match, pulling in stars like U.S. internationals Becky Sauerbrunn, Kelley O’Hara, Amy Rodriguez and Christen Press.

Those same faces are back, and the Royals also added Spanish midfielder Veronica Boquete in an offseason acquisition and built through the NWSL college draft.

Now head coach Laura Harvey’s side also has a schedule.

In conjunction with NWSL, the team announced its 2019 regular-season schedule this week, solidifying a calendar for a year that will also feature an international break during the start of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which runs from June 7 - July 7 in France.

Utah opens its second season at home April 20 at 7 p.m. MST, when the cline welcomes former BYU soccer star Ashley Hatch and the Washington Spirit to Rio Tinto Stadium. The Royals were 3-0 against the Spirit in 2018.

Three of the first four matches are at home, with home dates May 3 against Chicago and May 11 against Houston split up by an April 27 road trip to Orlando — site of the franchise’s first-ever goal scored in last year’s season opener.

Utah will also host Orlando on May 25, New Jersey-based Sky Blue FC on June 15, Reign FC — which recently relocated to Tacoma, Washington — on June 28, Portland Thorns FC on July 19, Sky Blue again on Aug. 7, Portland on Sept. 6, and will close the regular season Oct. 12 at home against the Dash.

You can see the full schedule in the graphic below.

All games will be broadcast on KSL.com locally, as well as nationally on the Yahoo Sports app. The NWSL recently announced an amicable end to a partnership with A+E Networks to cancel the final season of a three-year contract with Lifetime television. No national television contract has been announced, but NWSL president Amanda Duffy said in a statement that the league is currently working on finding a new national partner.

Previous national broadcasts have aired on ESPN and Fox Sports 1.

“NWSL is a pioneering league, still in its infancy, as it builds and evolves to become the premier women’s league in the world’s most popular sport,” Duffy said.

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