Utah Royals FC finally was back home at Rio Tinto Stadium after what felt like an eternity due to a long road trip and international break. Coming into this one, Utah would still be missing Kelley O’Hara, Mandy Laddish and Becca Moros due to their respective injuries in addition to Brittany Ratcliffe and Taylor Lytle’s season ending injuries.
This one started off a little scary for Utah, with Portland coming out on the front foot. Utah had to deal with a lot of pressure right from the start. Luckily for Utah, goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart was on her game and kept Utah in it despite some defensive errors.