Utah Royals Give Up Costly Goal In Final Moments To Sky Blue FC

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – In the final minutes, the Utah Royals gave up three points on the road, falling to Sky Blue FC, 1-0.

In the second of three minutes in stoppage time, Jennifer Hoy blasted a ball past Nicole Barnhart to give Sky Blue the victory at home.

Three players for the Royals returned to the starting lineup with Rachel Corsie, Katie Bowen and Desiree Scott played their first game with the club since participating in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

They were without Christen Press, Kelley O’Hara and Becky Sauerbrunn, who just returned to the United States with the national team that won the World Cup. They are expected to be back for July 19, but whether they play in that match or not will be up to the coaching staff.

Former World Cup player Amy Rodriguez had a great chance to score early in the match but the ball bounced off the left post.

A tough result on the East Coast. pic.twitter.com/KpoH3h1dRl

— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) July 13, 2019

After 90-plus minutes, the Royals had just 9 total shots and 1 shot on goal.

Sky Blue was the more aggressive team with 16 total shots and 3 on goal. They also had 14 fouls, but lost the possession battle to Utah, 57 percent to 42.

The Royals dropped to 5-3-3 on the year and have slipped to No. 5 in the NWSL standings. Sky Blue won their second game of the season.

Utah will host the Portland Thorn on Friday at 8 p.m. The game will be streamed on KSLSports.com and the KSL TV app.