SANDY, Utah — With the final five-match stretch of the 2026 NWSL regular season, every moment and every point matters for the Utah Royals in its bid for a top-four spot in the league playoffs.
“It’s crunch time for everybody,” forward Cloé Lacasse said.
So far, so good — at least as far as Sunday was concerned.
Cloé Lacasse scored early, and Cece Delzer tallied her fifth goal of the season to help Utah Royals FC hold off North Carolina, 2-1 in front of an announced crowd of 5,572 fans Sunday evening in Sandy, Utah.
The win helped Utah (14-3-9, 45 points) vault back up to fourth place in the 16-team NWSL table and set a new club record with eight victories at home.
Mandy McGlynn made five saves to preserve the win for the Royals, who kept pace with the top of the league where second and eighth place are separated by just 8 points in the standings with four matches left in the regular season.
It’s the 25th win for Utah manager Jimmy Coenraets, who became the 12th coach in NWSL history to reach the mark with just one club.
“What Jimmy and the coaching staff have done a really good job of this year is giving the players confidence to be themselves,” Lacasse said of her manager. “We’ve done a very good job of playing a game that really heightens the strengths of the individuals.
“That’s what I’ve loved about playing under Jimmy.”
But Coenraets shrugged off the accolade: “I appreciate the praise, 100 percent. But my only goal is making these players better.”
“We’re not done yet,” he added.
Ashley Sanchez scored a historic goal for North Carolina (12-3-11, 39 points). But more on that later.
Delzer’s game-winning tally was her fifth of the season, and 25th of her NWSL career to join 39 other players in league history with such a mark.
It came on a breakaway in the 68th minute, when Mina Tanaka took a flick from Narumi near midfield and found a streaking Delzer, who converted from a tight angle past North Carolina goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan for the go-ahead score.
Utah made three changes to the starting lineup after last week’s 3-0 loss to Angel City that finished with just nine players.
Miyabi and Madison Hammond replaced the suspended Paige Cronin and Ana Tejada, respectively, while Kiana Palacios returned to her starting position for the fourth time in five games after playing the final 37 minutes and change against the Los Angeles side.
But it was the Japenese fullback who found space to open the scoring, looping a cross in the 17th minute to put Utah ahead on Lacasse’s header for the Canadian international’s 18th goal contribution of the season.
The mark that extended a club record with Lacasse’s 18th goal contribution of the season was the lone shot on target for the Royals before the break, when North Carolina out-shot Utah 6-4 with three shots on goal.
But Sanchez equalized from the penalty spot, stepping up to sneak her 20th goal of the season in the lower-left corner en route to a 1-1 first-half stalemate.
The goal tied Temwa Chawinga for the NWSL’s single-season record, with four matches remaining in the regular season for the Courage.
Moments after McGlynn’s punch save kept the stalemate, Cece Delzer tallied the go-ahead goal for the Royals.
Narumi flicked a header off a long ball from Kate Del Fava that found Tanaka, and the Japanese playmaker delivered with a well-weighted through-ball to Delzer for the forward’s fifth goal of the year in the 66th minute.
“We’re going into the last four games of the season — and if we get something out of this game, it should be confidence,” Coenraets said.
Watch/listen to Utah Royals head coach Jimmy Coenraets, forward Cloé Lacasse and midfielder Madison Hammond post-match below:
