'Our super power is we like each other:' Utah Royals turnaround backed by power of friendship

SANDY — Alexa Spaanstra has been inside some strong locker rooms during her soccer career, in her native Michigan, in college at the University of Virginia, and with Kansas City and Portland in the National Women's Soccer League.

But what she's found with the Utah Royals since joining the club on a half-season loan two months ago from the Thorns is up there with the best of them.

"I think that our team is very close, and we have a really good locker room," Spaanstra said after the Royals' 2-1 win over Louisville that stretched their franchise-record unbeaten streak to eight-straight. "That is something that I really feed off of. It's been a lot of fun.

"Everybody does their role to the best of their ability, and shows up to work every day with a smile on their face," she added, speaking not just of her teammates and coaches but equipment staff members, medical personnel, security employees — and on down to the team chefs. "That's not the easiest thing to do at times, and I'm super grateful to be a part of it."

Through 10 matches of the National Women's Soccer League 2026 season, the Royals have been the biggest surprise in the league that grew to 16 with additions in Denver and Boston. Utah matched its win total from all of last year Sunday night, rallying past Racing Louisville on a late match-winner from Mina Tanaka to collect 3 points and push the club to 6-2-2 on the season for 20 points.

An afterthought in the league as recently as the midway point of last season, Utah currently sits just one point off league-leading San Diego Wave FC and tied for second with Portland — but ahead of the Thorns with a plus-7 goal differential.

But through the fastest start in club history, the team that has never made the playoffs is relying on a unique roster comprised of both NWSL veterans, newcomers to the league, and a handful of former international standouts handpicked to represent the Beehive State's third-year professional women's soccer franchise.

Built on a culture that values team chemistry and likability over some of the NWSL's biggest stars, the Royals have unearthed a secret sauce in 31-year-old manager Jimmy Coenraets' third season in charge of the club.

Like former Real Salt Lake sides including the won that stormed to the 2009 MLS Cup title, the team has been the star as Utah approaches the month-long men's World Cup break in strong contention for a first-ever playoff berth.

KSL spoke with various players and Coenraets after each game, one of the few media outlets with the team each week of the first third of the 2026 season. Each match — whether a gritty 0-0 draw with Bay FC, a free-flowing 2-0 victory over the Houston Dash, or a 2-1 rally against Louisville on a cold, stormy Sunday in Sandy — showed something different.

But a common thread has wound through first third of the season.

"We as a team always say that our super power is that we like each other," said midfielder Courtney Brown, the West Haven native who starred at the University of Utah before spending two seasons with the Washington Spirit. "I think you can see that on the field. We have a great connection with each other, we're super supportive of each other, and we always root for each other.

"We really enjoy each other," she added after teammates dumped cold water on her to celebrate her first goal with the club in that win over the Dash, "and are always rooting for each other."

Royal rising: Utah turning around history

In four seasons of NWSL regular-season competition, the Utah side has never reached the playoffs. Many seasons, the Royals haven't come close.

The Royals' winningest season on record was 2019, when the franchise's all-time leading scorer Amy Rodriguez scored nine goals and Utah finished sixth in the league with a 10-4-10 overall record.

In two years since returning from hiatus following the 2020 pandemic-impacted season, when the club shuttered and most of its players — including Rodriguez and current starting center back Kate Del Fava — moved to Kansas City, Utah has yet to climb out of the basement of the NWSL table.

Strong finishes in the second half of the campaign couldn't overcome poor starts as the club totaled double-digit losses in finishing 11th in 2024 and 12th a year ago. So it probably came as a surprise to few — if anyone, outside the Royals' locker room — when Utah started the season picked to finish dead-last by ESPN and 11th by CBS Sports.

"I think we've had a bit of an underdog mentality, a chip on our shoulder," said defender Kaleigh Riehl, who has started nine of 10 matches alongside the club's "iron woman" center back Del Fava. "We know that no one expected this from us. But we expected it from ourself ... and I think that's what you've been seeing the past few weeks."

In 10 matches in 2026, the Royals have matched their win total from all of last year — six in all — and can do the same Saturday with a win over first-year expansion club Denver Summit FC (3-3-3, 12 points).

"I think when you get a taste of winning, especially the way we have it right now, you don't want to lose that," said forward Cloé Lacasse, the Canadian international with three goals and two assists on the year. "So you're going to do everything in your power to keep that streak going. That's what we have in the Royals' locker room right now; nobody wants to give that up."

The team is the star — but also Mina Tanaka

Friendship and good vibes can build a strong culture, and clearly it's working for the Utah Royals. But winning teams also need talent. While the Royals may lack a bonafide "superstar" in the same way outsiders view Washington's Trinity Rodman, Orlando's Barbra Banda, Gotham's Rose Lavelle and Portland's Olivia Moultrie, perhaps that's as much a reflection on the media, coaches and fans who help tally weekly awards as anyone else.

The club has talent, including Del Fava, Lacasse and U.S. women's national team goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn. Needing an extra attacking force, club management added Mexican international Kiana Palacios, the 29-year-old native of Orange, California, who scored 83 goals in 162 appearances over the past five years with Club América in Mexico.

For local talent, Utah brought home Brown on a one-year free-agent deal to pair with former BYU star Brecken Mozingo, now in the final year of her rookie contract.

But the Royals do have a star in Mina Tanaka.

The 32-year-old Thai-born Japanese international came to Utah in 2024, signed an extension that will keep her in a Royals kit through 2028, and is tied with Christen Press for the second-most goals in franchise history with 10.

"She is so smart," Spaanstra said of Tanaka. "One of the smartest players I've ever played with. She might not be the loudest, but her movements are loud enough that you know where she's going to be; she pops up in the best spots.

"I know that if I'm playing the ball to her, something special is going to happen," she added. "She's so technically sound. Her first touch is unreal. Amazing player."

Tanaka has all the qualities of a star in a league full of them. Not that you'd know it from how she carries herself.

When she's not dancing across the pitch with the ball attached to her foot, finding a pass that few can make with one of her teammates, and "popping up" in the middle of the box to one-touch a cross from Cece Delzer for a match-winning goal, Tanaka stays pretty quiet. Her personality comes out in the privacy of the locker room; with Japanese teammates Miyabi, Narumi and Japanese-American Aria Nagai; and in a handful of other interactions like her ceremonial first serve and jersey swap with LOVB Salt Lake libero and fellow Japanese international Manami Kojima.

But in addition to being a star — be it underrated, rising or super — Tanaka has no ego, her manager adds. Underrated or not, Tanaka is Tanaka.

"With Mina, I probably wouldn't care (if she's underrated) because she's going to stay humble anyways," Coenraets said. "She's the type of player that has so much experience ... She almost quit football some years ago because of some injustice, and now she's come to the states and to this league, and you wonder what is she not able to do?

"She's becoming that total player," he added. "But I think the thing you like the most is she's doing it with a smile on her face, and she's enjoying what she's doing. That's something no one should ever take away from a player. If they're having job, just let them have joy."

The climb continues

As Utah polishes off the first third of than season in better position than it ever has been, the view of the mountain remains clear. The season isn't finished, but neither is the project.

The Royals want to make the playoffs for the first time in club history. But that's not their only goal as they look toward Saturday's home date with Denver (4:30 p.m. MT, ION) in the first match of a Rocky Mountain rivalry in women's soccer.

"We've obviously gotten great results, and things have kind of gone our way," said Delzer, who quipped that she "didn't even know" the team had climbed to second in the league. "It's been a lot of hard work. I think that work even goes back to 2024, before people were here and then into last season (as well). This has been a really long project, and I think that we're finally seeing the results of the project starting to pay off.

"Being in second place is fantastic, obviously," she said. "It does put a bit of a target on your back every game. But I think that's the NWSL for you; anyone can win on any given day, and it's always fun to see the standings changing and new teams climbing up there. We have a great group, and it's exciting for us."

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