Utah Royals Steal Road Point In Draw With Orlando Pride
Aug 3, 2025, 7:47 PM | Updated: Aug 4, 2025, 3:59 pm
The Utah Royals FC battled through pressure, adversity, and even a weather delay to steal a point against the Orlando Pride in Inter&Co Stadium on Sunday.
Mina Tanaka gave Utah an early lead, but a late offensive burst had the Royals fighting to keep their head above water down the final stretch.
Ultimately, goalkeeper Mia Justus and the back line held strong to keep the score even as the final whistle was blown.
Bringing +1 back home pic.twitter.com/dhXtVR6tha
— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) August 4, 2025
First Half
Entering their second match against the reigning champion Orlando Pride, the odds were stacked against the Utah Royals.
However, you wouldn’t have been able to tell that early on.
Utah came out of the gates strong. They controlled the tempo, put together strong attacks, and had the Pride on their heels for much of the first half.
Just four minutes in, Tanaka caught the Orlando goalkeeper off of her line and gave Utah an early lead from long range.
RELATED: Mina Tanaka Gives Utah Royals Early Lead Over Reigning Champion Orlando Pride
SHEEESH MINA TANAKA FROM DISTANCE 🚀 pic.twitter.com/B3LJr9cR5W
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 3, 2025
The pressure didn’t end there.
Three minutes after the score, Claudia Zornoza hit the post with a shot. Three minutes after that, Imani Dorsey forced a save in the bottom corner.
Zornoza looked to double the lead again in the 24th minute but Anna Moorhouse made an impressive save in the top left corner.
The first-half action significantly slowed after that attempt. To make things worse, a weather delay struck in the 39th minute — halting any leftover Royals momentum in its tracks.
Play eventually resumed and Utah took its 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
Going into halftime with the lead pic.twitter.com/DACVcI2kNd
— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) August 3, 2025
Second Half
Despite having back-to-back breaks in action and over 40 minutes of gametime since their score, the Royals remained in control.
Through the first 25 minutes, Utah took more shots, had more shots on goal, and lined up for more corner kicks.
However, soccer games are decided by moments. And the next one belonged to Orlando.
In the 72nd minute, Simone Jackson found Prisca Chilufya ahead on the break and a well-placed cross resulted in a goal and an even score line.
Picture perfect cross by rookie Simone Jackson for Prisca Chilufya to finish ☄️ pic.twitter.com/tJCV80nWqT
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 4, 2025
Two minutes after, Tanaka looked for another lead-taking goal but her attempt hit the top side of the crossbar.
However, the equalizer put all of the momentum on the side of the home squad. They closed the match with eight shot attempts, four of them were on frame and required a save from Justus.
She stepped up to the plate, batting all away and leaving the score tied at 1-1 as full time and eventually all of stoppage time passed.
The Pride led in shots, shots on target, possession, and corner kicks. But, Utah held down the fort when they needed to and escaped with a point on the road.
Follow the Utah Royals with KSL Sports
The Utah Royals will return home to take on Ally Sentnor and the Kansas City Current on Friday, August 8. Kickoff is at 8:00 p.m. MT.
Live radio calls of every game can be found on KSLSports.com. Select games will be broadcast on the KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM/1280 AM) and KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM/1160 AM).
