Sentnor a 'playmaker' as Utah Royals' skid continues in 2-1 loss to Angel City
Sentnor a 'playmaker' as Utah Royals' skid continues in 2-1 loss to Angel City
Dana Foederer scored for Utah, which fell to last place in the NWSL with a 1-1-5 record and just 4 points on the club’s rebirth season.
The Utah Royals had almost everything in Friday night’s match with Angel City FC.
Everything, that is, except for the result.
Sydney Leroux scored for Angel City, and Claire Emslie added a shout from the penalty spot as Angel City exited Sandy with a 2-1 win that handed the Royals a fifth straight match without a result.
Dana Foederer scored for Utah, which fell to last place in the NWSL with a 1-1-5 record and just 4 points on the club’s rebirth season.
There were plenty of positives to take from the match, acting head coach Frederic Brillant told assembled media following the loss, the Royals’ fourth in five games.
But maybe not so much from the opening minutes.
Alyssa Thompson set up the opening goal, finding former U.S. international Leroux in the middle of the box for an open header that broke the ice in the 29th minute.
The goal came somewhat against the run of play, but Angel City doubled the advantage in the 40th frame, when Emslie became the first player in team history to score a goal in three consecutive regular-season matches. The midfielder converted from the penalty spot after Thompson was dragged down by Utah rookie Olivia Griffitts, and Angel City took the 2-0 lead into halftime.
“I was very hard on them because I think we can do better with them,” said Brillant, the Royals assistant who filled in for Amy Rodriguez serving a one-match suspension for receiving a red card in the final moments of a 0-0 draw with Houston. “We have a young team. We work hard every single day and you can see the progression from the beginning to right now but if we can delay the little mistakes we are making, especially in the first half. They didn't create many chances and we did create lots of chances — but we couldn't score and we let them score very easily and the cross arrived because we stepped one-on-one and this is what we didn’t want to do.”
Amandine Henry echoed her temporary head coach and fellow French native who came to Utah from D.C. United in MLS.
“I think that the first half was not good enough,” she said. “He told us we have to press, we have to score and we tried … but it was not enough.”
The hosts responded through its own No. 1 NWSL draft pick, largely outplaying the more veteran team.
The Royals outshot Angel City 13-5, including an 8-4 margin in shots on goal. The hosts added four blocked shots, 24 crosses and nine corner kicks to the Angelenas’ two with 52% of overall possession.
Foederer’s first career NWSL goal was the capstone of the attack, for obvious reasons. But the buildup that began with captain Paige Monaghan and included a superb touch from Utah’s rookie wunderkind shouldn’t be overlooked.
Ally Sentnor found Foederer in the 51st minute after Monaghan played a weighted ball to the rookie winger on the edge of the area, pulling Utah right back into the match with another moment of #SentnorMagic that marked the rookie’s fourth goal contribution (two goals, two assists) in her first seven matches.
“She’s a great player and I love to play with Ally,” Foederer said of the U.S. youth international out of North Carolina, “Normally I am like ‘Ally has the ball; she can score so I don’t have to make a run.’ But today I was like, let me make that run. Then she played me, and it was a great ball so I only had to touch it with the inside of my foot and it was a goal. But it was a great ball by Ally.”
Good things happen, it seems, when Sentnor is on the ball.
“She's a difference-maker so when she receives the ball something can happen and this is what we asked of her, is that when she has the ball make some plays especially in the final third,” Brillant said. “You are very crafty so go one-on-one, try something, and we tried to get more from her when she is coming inside and she shoots. We tried to get a little bit more but she's a key player in our forces.”
The Royals will head to San Diego on a short-turnaround match with Wave FC. Wednesday night’s kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT on CBS Sports Network.
Postmatch reaction: Acting HC Frederic Brillant
Postmatch reaction: MF Dana Foederer, Amandine Henry