Utah Royals FC Win A Thriller, August 14th NWSL Recap
The first of the four games was between Gotham FC and Kansas City Current. The action started immediately as Amelia White scored the first and only goal for the Current. In the 13th minute, Midge Purce scored the equalizer for Gotham. Then, right before halftime, Gotham got their second and final goal of the game by Sam Kerr. Gotham FC won 2-1.
Gotham FC absolutely feels they won this one, as they dominated possession, had triple the shots on goal, triple the shots, double the accurate passes, and almost double the duels won. Another well-deserved win for the team that is top of the table.
Then we will head to San Diego, where San Diego Wave FC hosted Denver Summit FC. After going back and forth with corners, the Wave finally broke through as Melanie Barcenas scored the first and only goal of the match in the 35th minute. Denver had a pretty good start in the second half as they got the equalizer from Yazmeen Ryan in the 58th minute.
Outside of a few shots hitting the woodwork and some corner kicks. Not much happened in the second half besides the Denver goal. This game ended in a 1-1 draw. Based on the stats, the draw was probably the right result.
We will head north to Seattle, as the Seattle Reign hosted Chicago Stars FC. Despite many solid attempts in the first half from the likes of Stars' Mallory Swanson and Reign's Ainsley McCammon, no goal was scored. Then the first and only goal of the game came in the 53rd minute as Maddie Mercado scored the winner in the bottom left corner.
Seattle just controlled the game from there. Seattle won this game fair and square. They had 12% more possession, four more shots on goal, and ten more corners won.
Then we head slightly east to probably what was the game of the day, as the Utah Royals hosted Bay FC. Utah had the first shot, but Bay FC took the early lead as Karlie Lema scored in the 6th minute. Then, not even a minute later, Utah equalized thanks to Miyabi Moriya. In the 22nd minute, Narumi Miura gave Utah the lead on a shot from outside the box.
Then seven minutes later, Heather Gilchrist scored the equalizer for Bay FC. A few more shots happened, but it stayed 2-2 at halftime. Then in the 79th minute, Mina Tanaka scored the winner with a penalty to the bottom left corner for Utah Royals FC. A pretty even game all around.
Two more games tonight as the Boston Legacy FC travel to Kentucky and play Racing Louisville FC at 6:30 pm EST. Then we turn to Portland, Oregon, as the Portland Thorns host Orlando Pride at 8:45 pm EST.
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