Year 2 will look a little different for Utah United, now Utah's only USL League Two — and W League — side
United will open the 2025 regular season Thursday, hosting Albion Colorado at Clyde Field — and soon to be home to the $20 million-plus UCCU Stadium at Utah Valley University.
Year 2 for Utah United, the only pre-professional team in Utah County, will look a year debut from the club’s inaugural campaign.
Formerly one of three Utah-based teams to compete in USL League Two a year ago, Salt Lake Community College coach Mark Davis’ side will open the 2025 season Thursday as the only club from the Beehive State and one of five in League Two’s Mountain division.
The side will play round-robin schedule against Colorado’s Albion SC, CISA, Colorado Storm and Flatirons FC, with the winner of the division qualifying for the League Two playoffs and a potential spot in next year’s U.S. Open Cup.
And they’ll do it with a revised roster that features some of the top NCAA and NJCAA talent in Utah, as well as a handful of local products returning home for the summer from their collegiate teams.
Last year, Utah United received a boost mid-season when it was able to add a few players from local club program BYU. This year, the program will start the year with current Cougars Kyle Walbruch and Dylan Rodriguez — who recently helped lead the program to a fifth-straight club national championship in the NIRSA — as well as seven players staying home from Utah Valley to play through the summer on their home pitch.
“This being my last summer (in college), it’s great to get out in the summer and play with great guys from various D1 schools,” said Walbruch, who played last year with a local UYSA program that no longer sponsors a League Two side. “I just want to push myself to play with better players and grow myself as a player.”
Local soccer fans will also likely recognize several other names playing for United’s roster:
The team will once again be coached by Davis, a USSF senior A-licensed coach who has led SLCC since returning to his home state in 2016. He’s focused exclusively on coaching the Bruins men’s program since 2021, when he led the team to the No. 1 ranking in the nation with a 19-1 season and the program’s first-ever NJCAA national championship.
Utah United will be joined this year by a sister women’s program competing in its first year in the USL W League. Led by former Washington State assistant coach Scott Halasz under sporting director Nuno Gourgel, Utah United women will open the season Thursday in a doubleheader with the men’s program at Clyde Field on the campus of Utah Valley University (6 p.m. MT).
Halasz returns to Utah after one season with Washington State, where he spent the 2024 campaign following 11 years as an assistant at the University of Utah. He spent six seasons as associate head coach on the Hill, including helping the Utes to the best finish in program history in 2016 among three NCAA Tournament bids.
A graduate of Seattle University, Halasz’s club roots also run deep. He’s currently the co-head coach of the Utah Avalanche 2012 ECNL and 2012 ECNL-RL teams.
The women’s team — which features local standouts like BYU’s Ellie Walbruch from Highland, Arkansas’ Erin Bailey from Layton, North Carolina’s Bella Devey from Highland, TCU’s Seven Castain from Draper and more — kick off at 6 p.m. against Albion Colorado, with the men’s game immediately following.
“I’m so beyond excited to hit the field with this group,” the younger Walbruch sibling said. “Our roster is stacked with some of the best talent from Utah — girls who’ve been killing it at top schools all over the country. It’s unreal to have this much talent on one team, and we can’t wait to kick off the season with these girls tomorrow.”
Here’s a look at Utah United’s women’s roster:
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