# 2020 Utah Royals FC season

The 2020 Utah Royals FC season marks the team's third year and final season of existence in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top division of the American soccer pyramid. After this season, the team folded and transferred players and coaches to the new Kansas City NWSL, now known as the Kansas City Current.
On January 6, 2020 the team mutually parted ways with head coach Laura Harvey so she could take a position with U.S Soccer as the head coach for the U-20 Women's National Team.

## Competitions

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the NWSL did not hold a regular season as originally scheduled. The season was replaced by the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup in July and the Fall Series in September and October.

### 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup

The Royals began their Challenge Cup against the Houston Dash on June 30. They were without forward Christen Press who opted out of the tournament and Desiree Scott who withdrew from the tournament for personal reasons.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | North Carolina Courage | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 12 |
| 2 | Washington Spirit | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | OL Reign | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 5 |
| 4 | Houston Dash | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 |
| 5 | Utah Royals FC (H) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 |
| 6 | Chicago Red Stars | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
| 7 | Sky Blue FC | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
| 8 | Portland Thorns FC | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 |
* 1 2 Chicago Red Stars won the tiebreaker against Sky Blue FC on fewer yellow cards (1 to 4).

#### Challenge Cup match results

Preliminary round
Knockout round

### Fall Series

The Royals would be without several players for the NWSL Fall Series. Forward Christen Press signed with Manchester United. Rachel Corsie went on loan to Birmingham City and Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir was loaned to Valur. Kelley O'Hara, Desiree Scott and Diana Matheson all opted out of the Fall Series.
Head Coach Craig Harrington and assistant coach Louis Lancaster were placed on administrative leave prior to the first game of the Fall Series, Amy LePeilbet was named interim head coach.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Portland Thorns FC (C) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 10 | Community Shield |
| 2 | Houston Dash | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 9 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Washington Spirit | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 7 | Third place |
| 4 | Sky Blue FC | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 6 | |
| 5 | North Carolina Courage | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 5 | |
| 6 | Chicago Red Stars | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | |
| 7 | OL Reign | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 4 | |
| 8 | Orlando Pride | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 2 | |
| 9 | Utah Royals FC | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 | |

#### Fall Series match results
## Club
### Roster

* Age calculated as of the start of the 2020 Fall Series.
    As of September 11, 2020
| No. | Name | Nationality | Positions | Date of birth (age) | Signed from | Year with club (year signed) |
| 1 | Abby Smith | United States | GK | (1993-10-04)October 4, 1993 (aged 26) | Boston Breakers | 3 (2018) |
| 2 | Rachel Corsie | Scotland | DF | (1989-08-17)August 17, 1989 (aged 31) | Seattle Reign | 3 (2018) |
| 3 | Tziarra King | United States | FW | (1998-08-24)August 24, 1998 (aged 22) | North Carolina State University | 1 (2020) |
| 5 | Kelley O'Hara | United States | DF | (1988-08-04)August 4, 1988 (aged 32) | Sky Blue FC | 3 (2018) |
| 6 | Katie Bowen | New Zealand | DF | (1994-04-15)April 15, 1994 (aged 26) | FC Kansas City | 3 (2018) |
| 8 | Amy Rodriguez | United States | FW | (1987-02-17)February 17, 1987 (aged 33) | FC Kansas City | 3 (2018) |
| 7 | Elizabeth Ball | United States | DF | (1995-10-20)October 20, 1995 (aged 24) | Portland Thorns | 1 (2020) |
| 9 | Lo'eau LaBonta | United States | MF | (1993-03-18)March 18, 1993 (aged 27) | FC Kansas City | 3 (2018) |
| 10 | Diana Matheson | Canada | MF | (1984-04-06)April 6, 1984 (aged 36) | Seattle Reign FC | 3 (2018) |
| 11 | Desiree Scott | Canada | MF | (1987-07-31)July 31, 1987 (aged 33) | FC Kansas City | 3 (2018) |
| 12 | Taylor Lytle | United States | MF | (1989-03-31)March 31, 1989 (aged 31) | Sky Blue FC | 3 (2018) |
| 13 | Chestley Strother | United States | MF | (1994-06-13)June 13, 1994 (aged 26) | Sundsvalls DFF | 1 (2020) |
| 14 | Gaby Vincent | United States | DF | (1997-12-07)December 7, 1997 (aged 22) | University of Louisville | 2 (2019) |
| 17 | Arielle Ship | United States | FW | (1995-05-02)May 2, 1995 (aged 25) | Washington Spirit | 1 (2020) |
| 18 | Nicole Barnhart | United States | GK | (1981-10-10)October 10, 1981 (aged 38) | FC Kansas City | 3 (2018) |
| 19 | Michelle Maemone | United States | DF | (1997-03-18)March 18, 1997 (aged 23) | Pepperdine University | 2 (2019) |
| 20 | Mallory Weber | United States | FW | (1994-04-04)April 4, 1994 (aged 26) | Portland Thorns | 2 (2019) |
| 21 | Verónica Boquete | Spain | FW | (1987-04-09)April 9, 1987 (aged 33) | Beijing BG Phoenix | 2 (2019) |
| 22 | Madeline Nolf | United States | DF | (1996-03-29)March 29, 1996 (aged 24) | Penn State University | 2 (2019) |
| 24 | Taylor Leach | United States | DF | (1992-01-19)January 19, 1992 (aged 28) | Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC | 1 (2020) |
| 25 | Brittany Ratcliffe | United States | FW | (1994-02-07)February 7, 1994 (aged 26) | FC Kansas City | 3 (2018) |
| 29 | Kate Del Fava | United States | FW | (1998-07-23)July 23, 1998 (aged 22) | Illinois State University | 1 (2020) |
| 38 | Aminata Diallo | France | MF | (1995-04-03)April 3, 1995 (aged 25) | Paris Saint-Germain | 1 (2020) |
| 42 | Raisa Strom-Okimoto | United States | FW | (1997-10-25)October 25, 1997 (aged 22) | University of Hawaii | 2 (2019) |
| 61 | Melissa Lowder | United States | GK | | Santa Clara University | 2 (2019) |
| 66 | Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir | Iceland | MF | (1988-09-28)September 28, 1988 (aged 31) | Vålerenga | 3 (2018) |
| | Michele Vasconcelos | United States | FW | (1994-05-11)May 11, 1994 (aged 26) | Chicago Red Stars | 1 (2020) |

## Player transactions

    As of September 11, 2020

### Transfers in

| Date | Player | Positions played | Previous club | Fee/notes |
| 11/05/19 | Kyra Carusa | FW | Sky Blue FC | Re-Entry Wire |
| 11/05/19 | Cali Farquharson | FW | Washington Spirit | Re-Entry Wire |
| 11/05/19 | Arielle Ship | FW | Washington Spirit | Re-Entry Wire |
| 01/06/20 | Taylor Leach | DF | Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC | Signed |
| 01/07/20 | Chestley Strother | MF | Sundsvalls DFF | Signed |
| 03/03/20 | Elizabeth Ball | DF | Portland Thorns | Acquired in a trade with the Portland Thorns in exchange for Becky Sauerbrunn and allocation money. |
| 03/11/20 | Aminata Diallo | MF | Paris Saint-Germain | Signed on loan from Paris Saint-Germain. |
| 09/10/20 | Michele Vasconcelos | FW | Chicago Red Stars | Acquired in a trade with the Chicago Red Stars in exchange for $55,000 in allocation money. |

### Transfers out

| Date | Player | Positions played | Destination club | Fee/notes |
| 12/12/19 | Cali Farquharson | FW | KIF Örebro DFF | Waived |
| 12/19/19 | Makenzy Doniak | FW | Chicago Red Stars | Traded to the Chicago Red Stars, in exchange for Chicago's second round pick in the 2021 NWSL College Draft |
| 01/06/20 | Erika Tymrak | MF | | Retired |
| 01/08/20 | Katie Stengel | FW | Houston Dash | Traded to the Houston Dash along with Utah's third round pick in the 2020 College Draft in exchange for Houston's second round pick in the 2020 and 2021 NWSL College Drafts |
| 02/03/20 | Mandy Laddish | MF | | Retired |
| 02/03/20 | Becca Moros | DF | | Waived |
| 02/19/20 | Sydney Miramontez | DF | | Retired |
| 03/03/20 | Becky Sauerbrunn | DF | Portland Thorns | Traded to the Portland Thorns in exchange for Elizabeth Ball and allocation money. |
| 09/09/20 | Christen Press | FW | Manchester United | Signed with Manchester United in the FA Women's Super League, Utah retains her rights in the NWSL. |

### 2020 NWSL College Draft

    Source: National Women's Soccer League
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Previous Team |
| Round 1 | 8 | Tziarra King | F | North Carolina State University |
| Round 2 | 12 | Kate Del Fava | M | Illinois State University |
| Round 4 | 31 | Cyera Hintzen | F | University of Texas |