Real Monarchs may have started to find a footing, climb back into MLS NEXT Pro playoff chase
Jesus Barea's second-half brace led Real Monarchs to a 2-1 win Wednesday night over Tacoma Defiance, a sixth result in seven matches to climb back into the playoff race.
After a start-stop opening to the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro season, Real Monarchs are beginning to find a footing.
Real Salt Lake’s second-team affiliate played two matches in all of March and opened April with a “home” match in St. George that felt like a road trip en route to the losing end to Ventura County.
But the Reserves may be finding their footing.
Jesus Barea had a second-half brace Wednesday night to lead Real Monarchs to a 2-1 win over Tacoma Defiance, a sixth result in seven matches to climb back into the playoff race.
It’s the third goal in two matches for Barea, the No. 19 overall draft pick last year who also scored the Monarchs’ 3-3 road draw last week against Ventura (VCFC collected the extra point on penalty kicks, 4-3).
There’s still a long season ahead, but the mid-week win at America First Field in Sandy pushes the Monarchs above the playoff line at 4-2-4 (17 points) for the first time since a 2-1 loss at Colorado Rapids 2 a month ago on May 18.
“We’ve just been hungry,” said Ruben Mesalles, the RSL rookie out of Duke who assisted on Barea’s second goal, during the current run of three straight results.
The club’s 17 points are tied for seventh in the Western Conference of MLS NEXT Pro. But with two games in hand on Tacoma and a 1.7 points-per-game average, Real Monarchs are just .1 ppg off San Jose affiliate Town FC for sixth and closer to third-place Colorado (1.77 ppg), fourth-place North Texas (1.75 ppg) and fifth-place Houston (1.75 ppg) with two of the next three matches at home.
As much as consistency on the field, the Monarchs are finding consistency in the schedule. The club will host Houston Dynamo 2 on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. MDT — a more manageable break than the start of the year, right?
“It’s been 11 days since our last game, and that’s how our schedule’s been for the first eight games of the season,” Real Monarchs coach Mark Lowry said. “It’s hard to get that, especially after that loss to Colorado.
“Even if we don’t get a result down in Ventura, it’s just nice to get some momentum, to build up the relationships on the field, to build fitness, the sharpness and all those things that come with just playing games.”
REAL MONARCHS 2-1 TACOMA DEFIANCE
GOALS
TAC: Jackson Khoury (unassisted), 40’
SLC: Jesus Barea (unassisted), 53’
SLC: Jesus Barea (Ruben Mesalles), 65’
LINEUPS
Real Monarchs (4-2-3-1): Mason Stajduhar; Maximus Jennings, Zack Fansworth, Wes Charpie, Ruben Mesalles; Brayan Sandoval (Chase Duke 61’), Liam O’Gara, Griffin Dillion ©, Diego Rocio (Omar Marquez 61’), Owen Anderson (Ousman Touray 79’); Jesús Barea (Izzy Amparo 87’)
Subs not used: Max Kerkvliet, Luis Rivera, Grayson Carter, Dominic Berrios
Tacoma Defiance (4-2-3-1): Lars Hellleren; Charlie Gaffney, Kaito Yamada, Demian Alvarez (Enrique Katsaros 82’), Birame Diaw (Yu Tsukanome 82’); Joonmo Kang (Gallatin Sandnes 72’), Daniel Robles (Omar Hassan 62’), Peter Kingston, Rafferty John Pedder (Leonardo Flores Gonzalez 62’), Jackson Anthony Khoury; Sebastian Gomez ©
Subs not used: Mohammed Shour, Ryan Baer
Stats Summary: SLC / TAC
Shots: 8 / 6
Shots on Goal: 2 / 2
Corner Kicks: 3 / 2
Fouls: 13 / 13
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SLC: Brayan Sandoval (Yellow Card 36’)
TAC: Birame Diaw (Yellow Card 75’)
SLC: Liam O’Gara (Yellow Card 76’)
TAC: Peter Kingston (Yellow Card 84’)