'We never recovered from the penalty:' Utah Royals FC fall to Orlando for 3rd-straight loss

SANDY — Saturday was not the way the Utah Royals hoped to rebound from its two-game, two-loss road trip over the past eight days.

Alex Morgan converted a penalty kick to end the first half, and Kristen Edmonds tallied the gamewinner as the Orlando Pride handed Utah Royals FC its third-straight loss, 2-1, Saturday evening at Rio Tinto Stadium.

"The moment the penalty came, we never recovered mentally," said Royals coach Laura Harvey, who was visibly bristled and frustrated by the job performance of head referee Reyna Fonseca and her crew both at halftime and after the match. "That's partly on us. But it’s hard to sit here every week and watch a performance like that out of a referee and not acknowledge it."

The loss marks the longest losing streak in the brief history of the first-year National Women's Soccer League expansion club, providing a low point for the club that hasn't won a game through the first two weeks of July.

"I think it’s fair to say it’s pretty low," Utah defender Rachel Corsie said of the team's morale. "The goal just before halftime was really tough to take.

"It's been a tough week, and when those things go against you, it hits you harder. We have to try to respond better than we did. We lost the goal early in the second half, but we couldn’t fight back."

Utah (5-6-6, 21 points) took a 1-0 lead in just the eighth minute of play on a half-volley by Amy Rodriguez from Corsie.

But Orlando equalized in first-half stoppage time when Morgan converted a penalty kick, and Edmonds gave the Pride its first lead in the third game of the series with a 53rd-minute match-winner.

Rodriguez struck less than 10 minutes into the match, when the 31-year-old forward received a stunning pass over the Orlando defense from center back Rachel Corsie. The U.S. striker struck the ball with a half-volley off the edge of her boot and over Pride goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris into the top-right corner for the 1-0 advantage.

But it was the last lead the Royals would take.

Orlando out-shot the Royals 6-3 in the first half, but Utah goalkeeper Abby Smith made two saves to keep the Pride at bay until late in the half. The Royals netminder made a kick-save against an onrushing attempt by Alex Morgan to keep the lead in the 18th minute, and the U.S. international forward left the game briefly around the half-hour mark with a minor leg injury.

She quickly returned, and equalized for the Pride (8-6-4, 28 points) with a penalty kick in first-half stoppage time, 1-1.

"When you get decisions like that against you, it's a real sucker punch," Corsie said. "It's moments like that that change games. Unfortunately tonight, it went against us and it was hard to turn around."

Gunny Jonsdottir was whistled for a foul in the box while attempting to clear an Orlando corner kick, and Morgan stepped to the spot to convert in the top-right corner past a flat-footed Smith.

Harvey spent several moments following the end of the half to have words with the officiating crew, picking up the ball and returning it to the head referee who called the mysterious penalty kick before retreating to the locker room.

"This is my job; I could get fired over that result. But nothing is going to happen to her. Stuff like that happens every week," Harvey said, acknowledging that poor officiating marred both teams’ efforts with four yellow cards to Orlando. "This week, we lost a player to a suspension for a tackle made in a game; what are we doing? It’s just hard work, to sit here and not say anything about it. I’ll probably get fined and suspended, but fine. What’s happening to the ref? That’s my question. Fine me, but provide the refs with a better performance."

Edmonds gave Orlando the lead in the 53rd minute. The 31-year-old midfielder took advantage of Smith being off her line, crushing a ball from the touchline into the top shelf to give the 2-1 advantage to the visitors.

It was the first time Orlando led in the three-game season series with the Royals, and Smith exited the match just 15 minutes later after a collision in her own box. Backup goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart finished out the final 20 minutes of the loss, dropping the Royals to 0-1-2 against the Pride in 2018.

"We’ve gone from being able to get however many points against them to two," Harvey said. "People keep telling me that it’s going to be OK, but I don’t know when that changes. So yeah, we never recovered from the penalty."

Next up

Utah hosts league-leading North Carolina at 8 p.m. MT Friday night. The Royals handed the Courage their only loss of the season, 1-0, on June 16.

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