The Utah Royals have not lost a game since March 22.
Come again? You might be asking. Is this the same Utah Royals that finished their inaugural campaign in 11th place in 2024, and their sophomore season in 12th out of 14 teams? The same side that drafted University of North Carolina-turned-U.S. women’s national team darling Ally Sentnor as the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft before sending her to Kansas City last summer? The side whose roster was so hampered by injuries that it was difficult to ascertain how good they were?
Yes, that Utah Royals.
With 17 points and three matches to go before the month-long NWSL summer break, Utah is eight points shy of the total number of points they earned in each of their previous seasons. Far more importantly, they are playing like protagonists, a team that could reach the playoffs for the first time (including the original franchise that operated during the 2018 and 2019 seasons). How has this happened?
Protagonists in Utah
Royals and U.S. women’s national team goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn described the team as “process-oriented” when asked about the way they’ve blossomed this season.
“We’re not expecting an outcome of a win, expecting a shutout,” said McGlynn, who, since returning from injury, has logged three of the latter. “We’re just going there and we know how to execute the game plan and do that to our full ability.”
The Royals are aware that they are exceeding expectations, center-back Kaleigh Riehl said, but like any respectable underdog, they’ve long known what they’re capable of and indulged in a certain degree of self-centeredness.
The difference is now that capability is aligning with results. After suffering consecutive losses to the Current and the San Diego Wave, the Royals won five of their next seven. That recently included a seven-point haul in eight days with wins over Angel City FC and the Houston Dash, and a draw with Bay on Sunday.
“It’s been so great, especially in this three-game week, that we just focused on us, us, us, and that has been really, really, perfect for this process for us,” McGlynn said.
Head coach Jimmy Coenraets was more candid about the difference between the Royals’ then and now, between their potential and execution.
“We have a team that actually wants to work hard,” he said. “We don’t have divas or big stars. We have players that, individually, want to contribute to the bigger team.”
Coenraets also made some managerial adjustments ahead of their 2026 campaign. The players, he said, had been “hungry for structure, for clarity, for simplicity.” So the coaching staff did away with the 27-point game plan and kept things streamlined and digestible. Then they focused on repeating what worked over and over again.
“I think probably the biggest change for us is just standards. It’s a clear understanding of what people can get away with and what they don’t get away with and what we need to be successful,” he said.
The Royals may not have shiny names on their team sheet, but they do have players like Japanese forward Mina Tanaka and center-back Kate Del Fava, both of whom Coenraets said drive the professional culture in the squad.
Tanaka was the Royals’ leading goal scorer last season. She missed the team’s first two games as she was off winning a continental title with Japan, but marked her 2026 NWSL debut with a late equalizer against the Washington Spirit. Her spatial awareness affords her the ability to roam about the pitch, plugging into spaces as needed without being confined to them and triggering attacks as she sees opportunities to exploit. Coenraets has normalized those liberties this season.
“We just told her, ‘Look, here is a structure, and within that structure you get your free role. You get to move where you want, how you want, and players around you will adapt to it,’” he said.
Against Bay on Sunday, she sliced through the home side’s defense with one well-textured through ball to Paige Cronin that was saved by goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz in their 1 v 1 encounter.
Utah’s protection of its goal has improved mightily this season. They conceded 40 goals in 2024 and 42 in 2025 in 26 fixtures. This year, they’ve conceded six out of nine, joint-second best in the division, level with second-placed Spirit and one behind fifth-place Gotham FC.
Del Fava is central to that. A back-to-back NWSL Iron Woman, Del Fava is poised for another season playing every minute of every match, likely with the same efficiency. She has won 77 percent of her aerial duels and has made 20 tackles and interceptions each, contributing to Utah’s five clean sheets on the season so far.
“I think she still has a very big ceiling, and I’m hoping (she’s) going to (receive) a call-up in June,” Coenraets said, referring to the pair of USWNT friendlies in Brazil next month.
“I’m not going to lie. She already deserves it in my opinion, but I think she’s knocking on the door, and if she receives the opportunity to do so, people will see how quality she is, not only for a group on the pitch, but also how she will lead off the pitch.”
Three games remain before players leave for national team duty: a test against a Racing Louisville side buoyed by a recent upset of the table-topping Portland Thorns, a well-managed Denver Summit, and the Thorns themselves on May 30.
In the past, the Royals have surged in the latter half of the season, and a landmark signing during the summer transfer window could propel them further toward that.
Then again, so, too, could continuing to believe in their process.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Utah Royals FC, NWSL, Women's Soccer
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