SANDY — Kiana Palacios left arguably the biggest club in Mexican women's soccer for reasons that had as much to do with everything but soccer as the futbol on the pitch.
But in Utah, she's found much more.
The 29-year-old Mexican international from Orange, California made her home debut Sunday for Utah Royals FC, connecting with Lara Prasnikar on the Slovenian's first NWSL goal in a 2-1 loss to the San Diego Wave at America First Field.
But after six years with Club America, where Palacios became the club's all-time leading scorer with 83 goals in 162 appearances while featuring extensively with El Tri's women's national team, Palacios returned stateside where she could not only contribute in one of the best leagues in the world — but also play in front of family and friends who still live in southern California.
"It was an honor to represent that club, the biggest club in Mexico or Central America," Palacios said before Sunday's match. "It's a love-and-hate club; they love you one day, they hate you another. But the expectations are so high, and I was proud to be a part of it. I'm very happy and proud of myself.
"That club will always be in my heart. I wish them nothing but the best."
In Palacios first match at America First Field (and second start), the home side got behind early.
Dudinha gave the Wave an early lead, taking advantage of a misplayed backwards pass in the 17th minute to strike inside the bottom left corner for the 1-0 advantage.
Lara Prašnikar gets her first NWSL goal and makes history as the first Slovenian to score in the league 🇸🇮 pic.twitter.com/4yMTgOzsVi
— National Women's Soccer League (@NWSL) March 23, 2026
The Royals were 0-18 when trailing at halftime since returning to Utah before the 2024 NWSL season, including 0-9 during last year's 6-131-7 campaign that finished 12th in what was then a 14-team league.
But Utah didn't quit. Cloee Lacasse tried to time a long ball into the box from Kameron Simmonds toward Palacios in the 67th minute.
But when a Wave defender stepped in front of the Mexican international, Prasnikar was open at the top of the box to finish for her first goal since joining the NWSL last year.
Tatumn Milazzo drew a second yellow card with 10 minutes to play that left the Royals shorthanded, and Lia Godfrey put away the go-ahead goal in the 86th minute to help the Wave take full points.
Drafted in the fourth round of the now-defunct NWSL college draft in 2018, Palacios made her way to Spain and played three seasons out of UC Irvine with Real Sociedad in Spain, scoring 13 goals in 68 matches over three years. That led to a transfer to Club América, where she scored 83 goals in 162 appearances during a five-year career that also saw her become a fixture with the Mexican women's national team.
When an opportunity came to return to the United States with Utah and play in the NWSL — still considered one of the top leagues in the world, even as more and more American stars have begun to play for some of Europe's top clubs — Palacios couldn't pass it up, even if it meant leaving the club where she is the all-time leading scorer.
For one, her parents, including a mother who grew up in Mexico before emigrating to the United States while raising a family to be proud of their heritage, had only been able to see her play a handful of times. Between international travel, flight adjustments, and lengthy travel to Mexico City where she played, Palacios admitted that playing stateside would allow her family to be at plenty more games than the first eight years of her career.
"Now there are no issues," she said, noting the volume of 1.5-hour flights between the Los Angeles area and Salt Lake City. "I'm very excited for them to be here, close enough to see me and able to play closer (to them) in San Diego and LA. It's exciting."
The Royals had a need for a goal-scoring striker to benefit an attack that averaged just 1.08 goals per match a year ago and finished in the bottom three of what was then a 14-team league. And just two weeks in, she's already backing up the reported $800,000 transfer fee, according to ESPN, that Utah paid to América — the second-highest outgoing transfer in Liga MX Femenil history.
"Two weeks in, she's not a big talker but she loves to pop up in front of the goal and just finish," Utah coach Jimmy Coenraets said. "It's been a good week of practice for her, the first one without any modification, and you can see she can always finish at goal.
"That was a major part we were missing," he added. "I'm really looking forward to showing her to our fans."
