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SANDY — A scoreless first half after nearly three weeks away gave way to a breakout second half for the Utah Royals Friday in a warm-up friendly ahead of the home stretch of the NWSL season.
English club Crystal Palace spent the week in Utah as the team prepared for its Women's Super League debut after getting promoted last season and fought hard for a 0-0 draw after 45 minutes at America First Field.
Rookie sensation Ally Sentnor found her way in the second half, however, and put the Royals on her back en route to a 2-0 lead by the time the 70th minute rolled around.
The first goal was a narrow side-angle shot that took a deflection in the 54th minute for the icebreaker, followed by a collected finish in the box off a feed from Hannah Betfort in the 70th minute.
Hannah dished it, Ally served pic.twitter.com/0FcYSst4Dm
— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) August 17, 2024
"Ally Sentnor is just enjoying this game," interim head coach Jimmy Coenraets said. "She's amazing to see. I think that's a big difference if you just compare it with a few weeks ago."
Kaleigh Riehl got her first goal in a Utah uniform in the 81st minute to seal the 3-0 win for a steadily improving Royals squad that has rattled off three straight wins during the NWSL break.
"We've taken a huge step from where we were a month ago, and we're happy about that, but obviously we want to continue to push," Riehl said. "We know that there are many areas that we can still improve in, and we think that we can get more goals."
Utah resumes NWSL play on Friday, Aug. 23 against fellow expansion team Bay FC at AFF with 10 games remaining in the regular season.
