NWSL Lifetime Game of the Week 3

NWSL Week 3 Utah Royals FC vs. Chicago Red Stars Recap 

(Photo courtesy of NWSL)

  

Sandy, Utah was the site for this week’s NWSL Lifetime Game of the Week between the Utah Royals (0-1-2, 2pts) and the visiting Chicago Red Stars (1-1-1, 4pts). Pop star Rachel Platten's performance of the national anthem was a bad omen for the Royals as they fell to the Red Stars 1-0.

Chicago midfielder Danielle Colaprico provided the game’s only goal in the 27^th minute. After a poor clearance by Utah, Colaprico picked up the ball from just outside the 18-yard box, chested it down and shot her own volley into the top right corner of goal just out of the reach of Utah goalkeeper Abby Smith.

This match was an historical event because it was the first ever home game for Utah Royals FC. 19,203 fans (the eighth largest crowd in NWSL history) filled Rio Tinto Stadium hoping to witness the Royals first ever win in franchise history, but instead witnessed the club’s first ever loss. The game also featured the long awaited return of soccer legend Amy Rodriguez who made her first NWSL appearance 363 days after tearing her ACL in the 2017 season opener. Rodriguez’s  return was the highlight of the match for Utah when she entered the game in the 77^th minute. “A-Rod” wasted no time getting to work, creating chances; hustling to beat opponents to the ball and in the 88^th minute produced Utah’s only shot on goal for the day.

The save of the game came early in the second half, when Utah Royals forward Lo’eau LaBonta cleared a ball off the line that prevented Chicago from taking a two-goal lead.

Player of the Match:

Chicago Red Stars midfielder Danielle Colaprico

(Photo courtesy of NWSL)

Danielle Colaprico is the clear choice from "Player of the Match", not only because she scored the game-winning goal, but because she was all over the field, doing the dirty work and making plays that won't show up on the stat sheet. I wouldn't be surprised if Colaprico doubles-up on the NWSL weekly awards and gets both "Goal of the Week" and "Player of the Week" for week 3. She has my vote for both. Also, Honorable Mention needs to go to Chicago Red Stars defender Arin Gilliland, who played lockdown defense on her side of the field all game long and did a great job getting forward and being apart of Chicago's offensive attack.     

What’s next?

Chicago will have a busy week coming up with two games in seven days. They will take on the Houston Dash on Wednesday April 18 at 7:30 p.m. ET then face Sky Blue FC on Saturday April 21 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Both games will be at home and will be streaming live on go90.

Utah will continue their search for the first win in franchise history when they travel to Cary, North Carolina to play the North Carolina Courage on Saturday April 21 for the next NWSL Lifetime Game of the Week at 3:30 p.m. ET.