The rhythm reverberated around Rio Tinto Stadium as the fans joined the Utah Royals players in the Viking clap as every set of hands came together in unison.
“We wanted it just to be a reward for the fans,” Royals winger Diana Matheson said. “They’ve given so much already … so hopefully they had fun with it.”
The Royals claimed their first win in club history Saturday, 2-0 win against the Washington Spirit. Matheson started the plays that led to each Royals goal, setting Kelley O’Hara up for the opener and scoring the second on her own.
“What we ask the wingers to do is play a little cat and mouse with the defenders,” Royals coach Laura Harvey said. “And sometimes you can get exposed from it. Sometimes you get the reward. And I think you saw tonight we got rewarded, but there’s times where we expose people behind us if we don’t get it right. I think [outside defenders] Brooke [Elby] and Becca [Moros] occasionally got put in difficult positions with it. But that’s why we do it, is you can get such a reward if you get it right.”
Matheson hovered between two Spirit players after a sixth-minute throw-in, then dispossessed Washington defender Caprice Dydasco and sent a long ball to Amy Rodriguez, who took control of possession and hit a pass through two defenders to an open O’Hara, who ran onto the pass and shot to the left of Washington goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe, sneaking it inside the near post.
The score stayed 1-0 until the 66th minute. Again, Matheson won possession from Washington on a tackle and jumped up to chase after it, getting off a chip over Bledsoe before they collided. After Matheson rolled on the ground, Bledsoe stood and took two steps back toward her goal, but all she could do was watch as the shot skipped into the back of the net.
“I was just trying to be in the right shape, just how [Harvey] wants us,” Matheson said. “We had a good press going, and there was a bit of an errant ball and just went for it.”
The Royals’ defense finished with their second shutout of the season, and handed Washington its second shutout of the season.
“I think sometimes when you play against pace, which they have an abundance of, sometimes the mentality is to drop off,” Harvey said, “whereas I’ve always said prevention is better than cure. Don’t let them get pace, don’t let them be quick. And I thought we did a really good job of that.”
The Royals face a quick turnaround as they host Orlando on Wednesday.
