Franchise first: Utah United caps inaugural season with USL W League title
The team of former college rivals made history Saturday night, going from expansion side to league champions in a little less than seven months.
This story originally appeared at KSL.com. It has been repurposed here with permission from the author.
PROVO — Utah United never set out to win a league title in its first year in franchise history.
But that's exactly what they did Saturday night.
McKenzie Evans-Tostado, Seven Castain, Lilliah Blum and Ruby Hladek all scored as Utah won a USL W League championship with a 4-0 win over defending champion North Carolina Courage U23 at BYU's South Field.
The loss was the first of the year for the Courage (13-1-3), which was playing in its third consecutive W League final.
But for Utah United (13-1), it was the chance to make history in going from an expansion team in the 93-team pre-professional W League scattered across the continental United States in four conferences and 15 divisions.
"There aren't a lot of people who get to compete for national championships at any level," said Castain, who set a Utah high school record with 71 goals en route to 2A MVP honors at Waterford. "To get this opportunity, and to do it at home with all of our family and friends surrounding us was amazing."
For Utah United head coach Scott Halasz, the former Utah and Washington State assistant who is heavily involved in local club soccer, the initial aim for a group that had never played together before tryouts in January was more simple: provide a high-quality training environment for dozens of returning college soccer players who just wanted to be home for the summer (and a few local college players who stuck around the Beehive State).
Quality training, and several strong friendships were a championship-winning formula.
"The girls just love being around each other," Halasz said. "It started from day one, and we just had to foster it and keep it going. But I was blessed to work with these young women."
Read the rest of the story at KSL.com.
Watch post-match interviews on Salt City FC’s YouTube channel, with the following: