HIGHLIGHTS: Utah United wraps up inaugural season with USL W title
The first-year USL W expansion team used a three-goal, six-minute run in the second half to pull past defending league champion NC Courage U23 4-0 in the USL W Final Saturday night.
By: Utah United media services
PROVO, Utah (July 19, 2025) — Utah United is 1-for-1.
The first-year USL W expansion team used a three-goal, six-minute run in the second half to pull past defending league champion NC Courage U23 4-0 in the USL W Final Saturday night at BYU’s South Field.
After former BYU-Hawaii captain McKenzie Evans-Tostado gave United a 1-0 halftime lead with a 37th-minute screamer from just outside the penalty area, Seven Castain — the former Waterford star and All-Big 12 striker TCU — doubled the advantage with a follow-up effort in the 54th minute.
Lilliah Blum, the rising junior at the University of Utah, needed less than two minutes to make it 3-0 before Utah Valley rising senior Ruby Hladek finished off the scoring in the 60th minute, heading home a corner kick from BYU midfielder Lucy Kesler to help Utah United go from expansion club in January to USL W League champions in their first season.
Taylor Rath, the graduate transfer goalkeeper at Utah State, earned the shutout in goal for United.
BYU's Ellie Walbruch was named USL W Final MVP after contributing a pair of goals, including Evans-Tostado's opener and Castain's goal that doubled the advantage to help Utah cruise to the win.
“That was fun,” Utah United head coach Scott Halasz said after he was doused by a bucket of ice water on the 90-degree pitch.
“Getting those three goals kind of took a lot of the stress off, unlike last week, which was very stressful,” he added. “But it’s great. We never really talked about a championship from the get-go; we talked about providing the right environment for these young women. This is just the icing on the cake, and we’re happy to be here. I feel really blessed and fortunate to be a part of this.”
