{"id":44,"date":"2026-05-18T21:37:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=44"},"modified":"2026-05-18T21:37:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:37:40","slug":"can-friendship-win-games-the-utah-royals-may-be-proof-it-can","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=44","title":{"rendered":"Can friendship win games? The Utah Royals may be proof it can"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Utah Royals FC\u2019s success has taken the NWSL by surprise this season with an eight-game unbeaten streak of six wins and two draws.<\/p>\n

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Through the first quarter of the 2026 season, Utah has climbed its way up to second place in NWSL standings for the second time this season. It\u2019s the highest the Utah Royals have ever been ranked in either iteration of the team. The Royals now just sit one point shy of the San Diego Wave.<\/p>\n

Going into the season, ESPN ranked the Royals dead-last in 16th in its preseason prediction, and CBS Sports had the Royals in 11th, just a one spot improvement from last year\u2019s 12th place finish.<\/p>\n

A third of the way into 2026, Utah already has six wins, which is the same number of wins from last season. <\/p>\n

The Royals\u2019 last loss was on March 22, the second week of the season, and up until Utah\u2019s draw with Bay FC on May 10, the Royals had a 17-game scoring streak and a five-game win streak.<\/p>\n

Until Sunday\u2019s 2-1 win victory, goalkeepers Mandy McGlynn and Mia Justus, who filled in for McGlynn at the beginning of the season, had put together a 536-minute shutout streak and hadn\u2019t conceded a goal since March 28.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s behind the Royals\u2019 new-found success? According to new addition and Utah native Courtney Brown, it\u2019s friendship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe say that our superpower is that we like each other, and so, I think you can see it on the field. Like, we do enjoy playing with each other, and I think it\u2019s that extra connection that we have with each other that is really helping it bring it all together and making us really a team to compete with,\u201d she told reporters following Utah\u2019s 2-0 win over Houston Dash on May 6.<\/p>\n

Winning through friendship and \u2018togetherness\u2019<\/h3>\n

Brown described the connections within the team as \u201cunderrated\u201d and \u201cintangible.\u201d Even though teammates are competing for minutes, they\u2019ve developed a team-first mentality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that is what makes the locker room healthy, right, is like you want to be playing minutes and you want to be getting time and you want to be making an impact on the field,\u201d she said. \u201cBut if that\u2019s not your role that weekend, like your role is to support the team, and it has to be like this team mentality of, you know, \u2018the team before me.\u2019 I know it\u2019s cheesy, but it\u2019s so important and it\u2019s so true, and that really goes along with our superpower.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Brown described is demonstrative of the culture of \u201ctogetherness\u201d that president of soccer operations Jason Kreis has worked to establish within both the Royals and Real Salt Lake.<\/p>\n

Kreis told the Deseret News Friday that \u201ctogetherness\u201d is essential for the team being able to \u201cconsistently compete for championships.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vision statement for our clubs is \u2018winning together through development.\u2019 That word is I think absolutely critical. Without it, I don\u2019t think RSL or Utah Royals has a chance to win anything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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For that \u201ctogetherness\u201d to happen, Kreis said the entire organization has to be aligned, from ownership down to the players, and he\u2019s pleased with how that\u2019s translated to the players\u2019 performances on the pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re feeling like this really strong sense of togetherness, which I think will continue to lead to good results, and when bad results happen, then we will have to lean on that real sense of togetherness to get through them,\u201d Kreis said. \u201cAnd there will be bad times. I would never project that things are going to continue from start to finish like they have in the first eight or nine games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Royals players have found ways to show up for each other off the pitch as well. The players recently threw a baby shower for Danish midfielder Janni Thomsen, who is expecting her first child this summer. The players all showed up wearing blue to celebrate Thomsen\u2019s baby boy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can tell that we root for each other,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to play when you know that your teammate has your back and that they are rooting for you.\u201d <\/p>\n

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What\u2019s next for the Utah Royals?<\/h3>\n

Kreis acknowledged the strong momentum the Royals have built. <\/p>\n

But he said the team needs to continue to have a \u201cweek by week mentality\u201d to consistently improve because \u201cultimately in soccer, just like any other American sport, when you need to be at your best is the end of the season if you want to have a chance to win championships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much like the 2009 Real Salt Lake team Kreis coached to a MLS Cup title, he sees a strong core to build around on the Royals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look through the spine of that team and you see a Mandy McGlynn in goal, you see a Kate Del Fava, a Kaleigh Riehl as center backs, you\u2019ve got real leadership in that whole triangle. You go through the center portion of the midfield with what Ana Tejada has done with this season has been nothing short of spectacular. The improvement that she\u2019s shown, and she\u2019s somebody that\u2019s got, can have some verbal stuff out there as well, some leadership. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe new central midfield players come in, top, top player as well, Narumi. Obviously Mina Tanaka, a fantastic player for us and somebody that all of us can look to, all of the players on the field can look to as a central figure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kreis refrained from sharing any expectations for the remainder of Utah\u2019s 2026 season because that word \u201calways creates a false narrative,\u201d he said, but he expects the culture and the team\u2019s processes to remain strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t focus on results first. We focus on the process, the culture, the identity first, and we believe that when we do that really, really well, stay focused on that, the results will take care of themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Utah Royals FC hosts Denver Summit for the first time Saturday at 4:30 p.m. MDT. Due to the NWSL\u2019s June break, it will be Utah\u2019s final home match until July 10. The match will be broadcast on Ion.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump moves to dismiss $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, creates fund to compensate allies<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NWSL news. Utah Royals news. How the Utah Royals are winning games. What Courtney Brown and Jason Kreis said about the secret to Utah Royals’ success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nCan friendship win games? The Utah Royals may be proof it can - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=44\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can friendship win games? 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