Utah Royals overtake Houston Dash behind 3-1 victory

HOUSTON, Texas ( ABC4 ) – Utah Royals FC won their second straight league game Saturday when they faced the Houston Dash in Houston. The Royals won 3-1, with goals from Ana Tejada, Claudia Zornoza and Paige Monaghan. Andressa Alves scored the goal for Houston. The Dash had not scored in six games until Alves scored.

The game started with a scare for the Royals. In the 11th minute, Utah was thought to have scored an own goal that would have put Houston up 1-0. The Dash had a corner, and the ball bounced around until it ended up at the feet of a Dash player, who crossed it in. The ball bounced off of Kate Del Fava and ended up in the back of the net. However, the play went to VAR, and it was determined that a Houston Dash player was offside and the goal was called back.

The Royals and Dash kept switching opportunities until the Royals scored in the 44th minute, when the ball bounced around in the box, with multiple Royals players shooting the ball. It eventually ended up at the feet of Ana Tejada, who hit the ball. It was originally thought to have been saved off the line, but the referee crew called it a goal. A camera angle behind the goal later confirmed it was a goal for Utah.

The second goal came from a penalty kick, the Utah Royals’ first of the season. Cloe Lacasse, who started her first game for Utah drew the penalty and Claudia Zornoza was the player who took the penalty. She shot the ball to her right and scored in the 55th minute. The ref had to go to VAR again to see if the foul occurred inside or outside the box.

The third and final goal came five minutes later, in the 60th minute when Zornoza sent the ball over the defense to Monaghan, who ran onto it and put it into the back of the net for her second in as many games in the regular season, or her third goal in three games if you include the Summer Cup.

Houston scored their single goal in the 73rd minute of the game. Houston also sent the ball over the defense to Andressa Alves who rounded Mandy Haught, who came out to attack the ball. The defense played a high line, and Houston took advantage of it.

Utah Royals FC play in Kansas City against the Current on Saturday, September 7th at 5:30 p.m. That game can be found on ION.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.