Becky Sauerbrunn scores, Utah Royals FC fends off NWSL-best Portland Thorns FC for victory

SANDY — Whether it’ll prove to be an accurate omen or not remains to be seen, but following Utah Royals FC’s 1-0 victory over Portland Thorns FC on Friday night at Rio Tinto Stadium, a graphic flashed on the big screen with the words “playoff preview” and the two squads’ logos.

If Friday’s contest is any indication, it would be a fantastic matchup at some point in October’s postseason.

All night, URFC was under siege from a powerful PTFC attack, but it answered the call each time and got a goal in the 36th minute from the most unlikely of players in the most unlikely of fashions — United States Women’s National Team defender Becky Sauerbrunn on a header off a Christen Press cross — to get the victory against the team atop the National Women’s Soccer League table.

With the win, URFC moved into a virtual tie for second in the table with the North Carolina Courage. It marked the first time URFC has ever beaten PTFC.

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“I think the fact that Portland’s No. 1 right now and it’s the only team in Utah’s history we haven’t beaten, I think having that tonight, that was a win that I think we needed kind of as a confidence booster knowing that we can beat the people ahead of us, we can beat Portland,” Sauerbrunn said.

Said head coach Laura Harvey succinctly: “It feels great.”

Up until the 36th minute, PTFC had largely controlled the contest, but URFC won a corner kick after threatening near goal. Press played it short to Verónica Boquete, who gave it back to Press after not being able to get past her defender.

Press quickly sent a bending ball into the top of the area, Sauerbrunn made contact with her head and it went toward the right side of the net, past the outstretched arms of PTFC goalkeeper Adrianna Franch. The ball hit the ground as it reached goal and bounced up into the net.

“I got pretty fortunate,” Sauerbrunn said. “It was just a great cross. It barely missed (PTFC’s Christine Sinclair’s) head and I just got my head to it. I thought it was going wide, but somehow it skidded in, so I’ll take it.”

Sauerbrunn said she takes more pride in the fact her team ended up with the clean sheet, as scoring is “not my job, but if it happens to me, I’m not going to be too upset about it.”

URFC’s win came on a night when it was outshot 18-5 and wasn’t great in the final third, but as has long been the team’s calling card, it was incredibly gritty in defending to get the win, and goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart was credited with six saves.

“Just really proud of the players because I thought they were really resilient tonight,” Harvey said. “We showed quality at times. We arguably could have scored more goals, but I think the biggest thing is that we were resilient and we bent, but we didn’t break.”

Given where URFC now sits in the table, Sauerbrunn wasn’t shy about expressing the squad’s goals with just five games remaining in the regular season.

“We’ve beaten everyone else, so now it’s just, ‘Alright, let’s see it through the rest of the season,’” she said. “Let’s make a playoff push to get in the playoffs, and I think if we make it in the playoffs, we have every chance of winning a championship.”