Utah Royals defeat Houston Dash 3-1

Claudia Zornoza scored a goal and assisted on another as the visiting Utah Royals defeated the Houston Dash 3-1 at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday.

The Royals opened the scoring in the 44th minute with a goal from Ana Tejada, who found the back of the net following a corner. Despite several attempts by Houston to equalize, it went into halftime trailing 1-0.

In the second half, Utah extended its lead with two quick goals. Zornoza converted a penalty in the 55th minute after Bárbara Olivieri's foul. Just five minutes later, Paige Monaghan scored off an assist from Zornoza during a fast break to make it 3-0.

Houston managed to pull one back in the 73rd minute when Andressa Alves scored from close range after being set up by Natalie Jacobs. However, it was too little too late for the Dash as they couldn't overcome Utah's solid defense and efficient counterattacks.

For Houston (3-5-10), Michelle Alozie had multiple attempts saved and was shown a yellow card just before halftime. Sophie Schmidt also had an early attempt saved.

On Utah's side (4-3-11), goalkeeper Mandy Haught made four saves.

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