For the first time in club history, every professional team in the Real Salt Lake organization secured a victory over its opponents during the weekend of April 19-20.
The weekend began with RSL visiting 2019 MLS expansion side FC Cincinnati for the first time on Friday night to open the weekend’s proceedings. RSL claimed a dominant 3-0 victory in Ohio to win its first match away from Rio Tinto Stadium on the year, seeing two goals from Albert Rusnák with Sam Johnson adding a third and a shutout performance from Andrew Putna solidifying the victory.
In the second match of the weekend, Real Monarchs SLC rebounded from its worst loss of the season with a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind win over San Antonio FC. The match marked the first time since 2016 that the Monarchs had topped San Antonio. The match didn’t come easy as the Monarchs fell behind 2-0 in the early stages of the match before clawing its way back in the second half, scoring three unanswered goals. The Monarchs found goals from Maikel Chang, Jack Blake and Kyle Coffee to secure victory.
In 2018 the club welcomed Utah Royals FC to the family, joining RSL, Real Monarchs SLC and the RSL Academy, setting forth the opportunity for all three teams to potentially assert its dominance on the American soccer landscape in any given weekend. Although the Utah Hattrick didn’t happen in URFC’s first year, its first match of the 2019 season saw the team top the Washington Spirit 1-0 behind a goal from Lo’eau LaBonta and a shutout by Nicole Barnhart to lock in the club’s three wins.
The Utah Hattrick has nearly happened on several occasions but with some teams playing in the middle of the week and some at the weekend, the true hattrick had yet to be completed.
Both teams will return to action this weekend in an effort to secure another three victories beginning with the Monarchs who will face off with 2019 USL Championship expansion side Austin Bold FC on Friday at 6:30p MT. Utah Royals FC are on the road on Saturday as it faces the Orlando Pride on Saturday at 5:30p MT, followed by RSL who will do battle with the LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday at 6:00p MT.
