Late flurry helps Utah Royals FC draw with Houston Dash

Published: June 30, 2020, 12:52 p.m. MDT

Houston Dash midfielder Erin Simon, rear, and Utah Royals FC forward Raissa Strom-Okimoto battle for the ball during the first half of an NWSL Challenge Cup soccer match at Zions Bank Stadium Tuesday, June 30, 2020, in Herriman. Rick Bowmer, Associated Press

HERRIMAN — Utah Royals FC’s first game under new head coach Craig Harrington was nothing short of madness on Tuesday morning at Zions Bank Stadium.

Facing the Houston Dash in both teams’ first game in the NWSL Challenge Cup, URFC scored two goals in the final nine minutes to come away with a 3-3 draw.

The final goal came in the 89th minute as rookie first-round pick Tziarra King headed in a long free kick from Vero Boquete.

A debut fit for a 👸@tziarra scores her first professional goal.

3-3 | #HOUvUTA

Tune in now on @CBSAllAccess and @Twitch.#NWSLChallengeCup pic.twitter.com/IHsIFh6W07
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) June 30, 2020

A few minutes prior, Boquete scored herself on a beautiful free kick to pull a goal back following a rather disastrous 20 minutes for the home side.

After getting on the board first in the 35th minute on a goal from Diana Matheson, URFC gave up three unanswered goals, the first coming right as first-half stoppage time began.

The passing and then the finish by @RachelDaly3 😍

1-1 | #HOUvUTA

Tune in now on @CBSAllAccess and @Twitch.#NWSLChallengeCup pic.twitter.com/qH8HSO8W7V
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) June 30, 2020

Houston’s Rachel Daly scored in stoppage time to tie the game after a defensive breakdown from URFC. She scored again just after halftime on a beautiful header off a corner kick. The wheels really appeared to come off for URFC as the Dash’s Shea Groom scored her team’s third goal in the 67th minute before URFC’s strong finish.

URFC will next play Sky Blue FC on Saturday night.