Traditional "end of soccer season" post

So soccer is over in Utah until Spring arrives, and that is a good thing. We don't need to be messing around with soccer in the Fall in Utah. There are more important things to worry about, like cleaning out my garage in preparation for winter.

This winter is going to be the one, the one where I get the garage cleaned out to the point where there is plenty of room to pull the cars in and walk effortlessly to the door with my hands full or groceries and not have to feel like I am walking through a maze of boxes and bikes. 

I already have a leg up on my neighbors, they can't even park their cars in their garages due to too much junk. At least I have always been able to fit my cars in the garage. But this year I am going to put them all to shame, while they walk through the snow on their drive way with arms full of groceries I will pull into my clean garage and bask in my awesomeness. 

With regards to soccer, below I posted KSL articles about RSL trying to make a big deal about how they have qualified for "5 straight playoffs" and the Monarchs trying to make themselves feel better about finishing almost last in their league.

From the Monarch's article:

Through the second half of the season, Utah finished with 10 results in the final 13 matches.

"We feel like if we can keep this momentum going, we can be a playoff contender," Utah coach Jimmy Coenraets said.

"Hitting rock bottom is OK; it gives us a great foundation to end on," he added.

Wow, "hitting rock bottom is OK"?

I guess, whatever. 

With regards to RSL, I usually don't think about them but I stumbled upon a RSL conversation on ESPN 700's the Drive with Spence Checketts the other day. He had on some guy from RSL, someone from the front office, I can't remember who it was. But anyway, they were talking about the season, the playoffs, blah blah blah, whatever.

Basically the conversation ended up focusing on what MLS teams have to do to break out and get to the finals when it comes to players. Do they spend big and get a Messi or someone like him, or do they focus on more homegrown talent?

Then the RSL guy was saying how RSL used to do a good job with its academy and focusing on homegrown talent but something went array during the Deloy Hansen years. Something like that.

Then Spence said something that made me laugh out loud.

He compared RSL to a team like Everton in the EPL.

He said something to the affect that RSL is always in the middle, good enough to get into the playoffs but not good enough to get to the finals, kind of like an Everton in the EPL.

I had to smile because that is the problem with MLS. Am I the only one that sees it? It feels like I am.

In a real soccer league like the EPL, or pretty much every other league in the world, just staying in the league is an accomplishment. Not getting relegated is an achievement because the competition in you league is fierce.

But when you have a closed league like MLS with 30 teams your season is a failure if you don't reach the finals, or at least the semi-finals. 

So yeah, you are doomed and your fans are going to get bored if you aren't at the top every year.

That is why I am slightly excited to start paying attention to the USL. 

There is a little soccer flame burning in me again perhaps.

Ohhhh, I even toyed with the idea of someone starting a low level USL team in Provo perhaps and then watching them grow and move up the ranks. Then one day they would win promotion to USL's top tier and we would have two top tier teams in Utah. 

Well, that is if you consider MLS top tier. 

RSL fails to advance in playoffs for 4th consecutive season, falling 3-1 in Portland wild card game

(ksl.com 10-23-25)

Major League Soccer and its playoff structure have changed a lot over the last four years, but one thing has remained the same: Real Salt Lake can't make it beyond its first matchup.

The Claret and Cobalt fell 3-1 in Wednesday's single-elimination wild card game in Portland to make it four straight opening matchup exits since the team advanced all the way to the Western Conference final in 2021.

RSL qualified for the postseason by the skin of its teeth in the first place, squeaking into the final wild card spot on a tiebreaker with San Jose and Colorado. The Timbers, on the other hand, fell from being in the top four for most of the season to eighth place and had home-field advantage in the wild card game.

The home team was the aggressor in the first half, opening up a 2-0 lead through 36 minutes on a brace from veteran Chilean striker Felipe Mora.

Justen Glad got one back for RSL with his first goal of the season just three minutes later, but a series of close chances fell short over the remaining 50 minutes and Portland sealed the win with a third goal in the 82nd minute.

The closest chance for the road team was a free-kick goal by Brayan Vera in the 76th minute that was called off due to a foul on Rwan Cruz, who was subbed on for Zavier Gozo in the 65th minute. William Agada also came on at that time for Victor Olatunji, who scored both goals in the Decision Day draw that got RSL into the playoffs.

"I think it's a microcosm of how our season's been," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "We have 20-some odd chances on goal and can't seem to make the play that tips the scales. Whether it's a crossbar, Victor not sliding across the front of the goal on a ball that's rolling in front or Rwan fouling on Vera's free kick."

The missed opportunities and "moments," as Mastroeni puts it, started to add up for RSL and resulted in yet another disappointing end to a season for the team with the longest active playoff streak in the league.

While the result and disappointment are still "fresh," in Mastroeni's words, the manager who has made the postseason every year at the helm of RSL acknowledged there will be "some tough decisions to make" in the coming weeks.

"We'll get together in the next couple of days with Kurt (Schmid) and Jason (Kreis) and figure out how to best move forward," Mastroeni said of meeting with the team's top brass.

Players with expiring contracts at the end of 2025 include: Vera, Agada, Braian Ojeda, DeAndre Yedlin, Alex Katranis, Sam Junqua, Philip Quinton, Noel Caliskan and Johnny Russell; though Ojeda, Vera, Yedlin, Katranis and Quinton all have club options, should the team decide to bring them back in 2026.

https://www.ksl.com/article/51394214/rsl-fails-to-advance-in-playoffs-for-4th-consecutive-season-falling-3-1-in-portland-wild-card-game

RSL qualifies for MLS-best 5th consecutive playoffs with 2-2 draw in St. Louis

(ksl.com 10-18-25)

Real Salt Lake rebounded from a disastrous first half of the season to rattle off eight of its 12 wins over the final 17 games to squeak into the ninth and final Western Conference playoff spot on MLS Decision Day on Saturday.

"I think the spirit of the group overrides some of the things that haven't gone right," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "And tonight, I think, was a great display of resilience, of execution and coming up trumps; when really there's no reason — with the season that we had — to believe in ourselves."

The team entered the day in the final playoff spot and could guarantee its league-best fifth consecutive postseason appearance with a win on the road against the already-eliminated St. Louis City.

A first-half brace from Victor Olatunji had RSL well on its way with a 2-0 lead through 32 minutes, but a penalty from Eduard Lowen just before halftime brought St. Louis within one, 2-1, at the break.

Joao Klauss tied the game at 2-2 in the 88th minute, and late leads from fellow playoff hopefuls Colorado and San Jose made the final minutes at Energizer Park a little tense for Mastroeni and company, who had already endured 90-plus minutes of pouring rain in St. Louis.

LAFC equalized against Colorado at 2-2, though, and RSL held onto a valuable point with the 2-2 draw, keeping the Rapids, Earthquakes and RSL all tied at 41 points at the end of the night. The first tiebreaker for playoff qualification was total wins, with RSL holding the slight edge with 12 to the other two teams' 11.

Goalkeeper Rafael Cabral came up big, once again, completing his first season in Utah playing every single minute of every game, and putting up five saves on 27 St. Louis shots to hold the home team to two goals, despite a 3.5-1 lead in expected goals.

"I feel we play as a family, and we just love each other," Olatunji said of his short time in Utah since joining the squad in August. "We trust and play like what we want. So far, so good. I love being here."

The margin in the standings was about as thin as it could have been for the Claret and Cobalt, who became the team with the most losses to qualify for the playoffs in MLS history at a 12-17-5 (win-loss-draw) record.

Mastroeni has now made the playoffs in each of his five seasons at the helm of RSL, fulfilling a promise he made to fans after a tough month of August when the team lost all three of its matches.

"In 2021, it took until the last game (to make the playoffs)," Mastroeni said on Aug. 23. "Even if it takes until the last second of the final game, we're going to make it."

RSL will travel to Portland to face the eighth-seeded Timbers in a single-elimination wild card game on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. MDT.

https://www.ksl.com/article/51392193/rsl-qualifies-for-mls-best-5th-consecutive-playoffs-with-2-2-draw-in-st-louis

Utah Royals send off 2025 season, 3 retiring teammates with 1-0 win over Washington

(ksl.com 11-2-25)

Sunday evening's season finale provided Utah Royals FC a chance to celebrate the past, including the retirement of three key members of the squad's return to the Wasatch Front three years ago.

It also may have given a glimpse into the NWSL side's future.

Paige Monaghan scored her fifth goal of the season, and Mandy McGlynn made three saves to make it stand up as the Royals wrapped up the 2025 season with a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit.

"The togetherness of this team was everything," Monaghan said. "I'm just so grateful to be their teammate; it was such an honor."

Lara Prasnikar — the 27-year-old midseason addition Slovenia — delivered quickly in her debut start for the Royals, finding No. 4 in the fourth minute to set up Monaghan's fifth goal of the season and give Utah a 1-0 lead.

It's the second straight match with a goal for Monaghan, who had a goal or an assist in five consecutive matches that paced the Royals' club-record eight-match unbeaten streak midway through August and September.

If there's something to build on the Royals' 7-13-7 season, it's Monaghan and her career-best five goals — as many as the previous two years combined.

Through the second half of the season, Utah finished with 10 results in the final 13 matches.

"We feel like if we can keep this momentum going, we can be a playoff contender," Utah coach Jimmy Coenraets said.

"Hitting rock bottom is OK; it gives us a great foundation to end on," he added.

It was also the year of Monaghan, who arrived in Utah via the now-defunct NWSL expansion draft as an occasional goal scorer — nine goals and an assist in four seasons with Sky Blue/Gotham FC and Racing Louisville — and became a pivotal member of the Royals' attack, a team captain and the second-leading scorer on the team.

What started as a season on the mend from a broken foot ended with a career year: five goals, two assists in over 1,000 minutes played across 16 matches, including 14 starts.

"The belief that my teammates and coaching staff had in me, that goes a long way," Monaghan said of her campaign. "For me, I'm a repetition player; that's what made me good in college, what helped give me experience and exposure, what led me to U23 camp and to get drafted.

"I've been craving that so long in my career, but it's just something that lacked," she added. "This year, the Royals made hires that helped me do what I need to do every single week to get ready for the weekends."

Most of the announced crowd of 9.170 fans weren't there for the win-loss record, too.

In a game that was meaningless in the 14-team NWSL standings — Washington entered Sunday afternoon locked into the No. 2 seed for the playoffs, while Utah had been eliminated from the postseason and was stranded at No. 12 — Spirit coach Adrian Gonzalez started two of the state's natives in midfielder Heather Stainbrook and attacker Courtney Brown.

Brown had more than 100 friends and family on hand to see the former Fremont High and Utah midfielder's 15th match of the season, which she started before a halftime substitution.

Stainbrook, the former Alta High star who was Utah Valley's all-time goal scorer when she graduated in 2023, went the distance for the Spirit.

The Royals, too, had their own celebrations to attend — their own flowers to hand out. Imani Dorsey, who came to the newly relaunched club as a free agent following the 2023 season, played the final match of her seven-year career.

The sixth player signed in Utah's relaunched history made her first appearance since Sept. 6 in a second-half sub.

But the biggest ovation came for Claudia Zornoza, the 35-year-old Spaniard who played the final match in her 17-year career that included stops with Real Madrid and the European Champions League prior to her final two seasons in the NWSL.

The Royals also honored former BYU defender Olivia (Smith) Griffitts, who retired this season following the berth of her first child, a daughter with former BYU football tight end Kyle Griffitts.

"All players with completely different personalities," Coenraets said of the three retirees, adding that he and Monaghan wanted Zornoza to wear the captain's armband but the Spaniard declined. "If you look back on Claudia's career, there aren't a lot of players in this league who present what she presents.

"Imani is probably one of the most intelligent players I've ever worked with," he added. "I'm very grateful that I was able to work with them; I hope I added something to their career, but I'm 100% certain they added something to my career."

https://www.ksl.com/article/51399278/utah-royals-send-off-2025-season-3-retiring-teammates-with-1-0-win-over-washington

Ugh.... this sucks, this really really sucks

Utah Warriors withdraw with Major League Rugby ahead of 2026 season, suspend operations

(ksl.com 11-4-25)

Utah's top-flight rugby franchise won't be returning after a breakthrough 2025 campaign.

The eighth-year professional Utah Warriors rugby franchise won't return for the 2026 season, the club announced Tuesday morning, after failing to secure additional ownership and funding.

Utah Warriors CEO Kimball Kjar revealed the decision in a letter to fans, a day after informing Major League Rugby of the club's decision while indefinitely suspending first-team rugby operations.

"Up until just days ago, the Utah Warriors were committed and on track to participate in the 2026 Major League Rugby season. Unfortunately, things changed quickly in the past week," said Kjar, adding that all season ticket deposits for the upcoming season would be refunded to the team's fans within the next week.

The withdrawal is the latest gut-punch for American rugby, the country that is scheduled to host the Rugby World Cup in 2031. With the decision, Major League Rugby will be down to just six teams in 2026. Current franchises will operate in California, Seattle, Chicago, Carolina, New England, and Washington, D.C.

The Warriors were one of two original teams (with Seattle) to stay with the league since 2018. But since the New England Free Jacks defeated the Houston SaberCats at Centreville Bank Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island, this past summer, trouble has brewed constantly.

First, the New Orleans franchise — NOLA Gold — announced it was withdrawing from the league after seven years in the league.

A short time later, the two teams in San Diego and Los Angeles opted to merge into a single team, called the California Legion, that would split its home games in San Diego, Los Angeles and Irvine, California.

Miami Sharks uprooted from the league after just two years, and Houston — another one of the original seven franchises in a league that once grew as large as a dozen — withdrew, citing financial hardships and disagreements with the league's front office.

But Utah felt different. The Warriors were built on a foundation of a sport brought to the state by some of the earliest Latter-day Saints pioneers from the Polynesian islands of Tonga and Samoa. From the early days of Iosepa to the youth rugby dynasty led by Larry Gelwix at Highland rugby, the sport had a foothold in the west.

It caused Utah's leadership to proclaim the state as the "epicenter of rugby," and Major League Rugby was — for a time — headquartered in Salt Lake City. Sold-out crowds regularly awaited the team at the club's 5,000-seat home at Zions Bank Stadium, and the club bought office and training space of its own in Draper last May.

Results weren't always consistent. But a renewed investment in the club and a roster overhaul under former coach Greg Cooper led to a franchise-best 11-5 record last year, a Western Conference regular-season title, and a playoff berth for the first time since 2021 before making way for top assistant and former New Zealand Māori All Blacks forward Robbie Abel to be the club's next coach.

"To our sponsors, thank you for supporting this vision of building Utah into North America's epicenter of rugby," Kjar said. "This vision remains and will be carried on by our amazing local rugby community at the youth, high school, collegiate, and club levels, especially Utah Little Rugby and Utah Youth Rugby."

Kjar also hinted that more news about the organization's "support for the game" would come "in the coming days," and urged supporters of the franchise to get behind that forthcoming direction.

"Although this might feel like goodbye, it's really just a shift in our focus," he said.

"That's the thing about Warriors — they never give up," Kjar added. "They keep moving forward. This isn't the end for rugby in Utah, and when that time comes to welcome professional rugby back to our great state, I look forward to standing next to our entire Warriors Nation family to cheer our team, our Warriors."

https://www.ksl.com/article/51400001/utah-warriors-withdraw-with-major-league-rugby-ahead-of-2026-season-suspend-operations

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Well, what the hell do I do now?

I was really starting to like the Warriors and was looking forward to following them more in the upcoming season. Now I can't.

I feel awful for the Warriors fans. I'm a member of a Warriors Fans Facebook page and I haven't even gone onto Facebook today to look. It would be too painful. They are a great group of people and now they must be absolutely gutted. This is just so sad.

Everything sucks these days when it comes to sports, just everything.

And I can see RSL fans saying something like, "See, you shouldn't have stopped following MLS and RSL. See, MLS is stable, MLS is a good league. Serves you right for not liking them anymore." 

Well, go to hell. 

I don't care if MLS is stable. (Actually, I'm not quite sure if MLS is really that stable.) But whatever. I just can't stand the league, so what if they are stable? If it is a sh*tty league with a sh*tty product I don't want to watch.

I wouldn't mind watching a soccer game once in awhile, but not MLS. That is why I am somewhat interested in how USL does next year with implementing Promotion and Relegation. 

I guess I do have that to look forward too.

But, it just makes me sick for the Warriors. It was a good product.

I guess rugby still has a long way to go in this country. However, with how big the NFL is rugby might never make it. 

I don't know, I just don't want to think about it.

Looking for a jock strap in Lehi

About a week and a half ago I found myself in Lehi again at the FrontRunner train station out there. I had some time to kill and it was actually a beautiful morning with cool temperatures, a few clouds in the sky, and the sun just barely popping its head up over the mountain tops.

I thought, let's go check out the old RSL Xango stomping grounds. Let's see if they've kept it up at all because last time it was starting to show some decline with mangled goalposts and such.

(see my 2022 "Ghosts of Xango" post here)

https://rslcup.blogspot.com/2022/07/ghosts-of-xango.html 

Wow, was I shocked. At least last time there was still some grass growing. This time nature has totally taken over and started to reclaim the area. 

Now, I'm big on water conservation. I think Utah is doing about as poor as you can do with water conservation. People seem to have completely forgotten that the Great Salt Lake almost dried up completely 3 years or 4 years ago and if it weren't for a very lucky big winter 2 years ago we would be in trouble. 

So, I am all for not watering an area just for the sake of watering it. 

But I still was a little befuddled as to what they are doing with the old practice field, which is pretty much nothing. 

Anyway, as I walked around the fence line I told myself to keep my eyes open. You never know when you might find a treasure hiding in the brush. So I set off, like an old German Shorthaired pointer in search of an elusive ring neck pheasant hiding in the open farmland of West Weber, Warren, or Plain City, (at least there used to be open farmland out there when I was kid, probably not anymore though) I was hoping I might find some old discarded RSL swag. An old T-shirt perhaps, an old practice worn sock with a hole in it, or maybe if I'm lucky the holy grail, and old sweat stained jock strap.  

As I rounded the area however I found nothing. A discarded water bottle and a smashed energy drink can was all I saw. Oh, there was one of those "i9sports" signs laying on the ground, forgotten. At least it did have a soccer ball on it, kind of apropos. I felt like that sums up the state of soccer in Utah, kind of discarded, in the dirt, forgotten. 

It isn't so much RSL's fault though, it's the league, it's MLS' fault. What a horrible league, how many teams are there now in MLS? 

30. 

You can't have a soccer league with 30 teams in it, that is chaos. What are they doing? 

Oh well, what do I care? I haven't cared for years, soccer is pretty much the last thing on my mind now. Except when I'm in Lehi and see an old soccer goal post off in the distance, sad...... lonely..... longing for days of yore.

At least I got to see a pretty sunrise.

 

Soccer and thuggery, bullfights and bravery

So, summer is coming to a close, and I guess soccer season is still trudging along. The only reason I know this is for some reason in my YouTube feed a soccer video popped up the other day about Suarez spitting in a trainer's face after a bitter loss or something like that. That League's Cup thing again I guess.

Why am I not surprised? 

Could be the pink uniforms, I don't know. Anyway, soccer players are just as bad as their fans. Thugs, hooligans, whiners, etc. 

I'm so happy I exercised the soccer demos out of my body years ago, I was starting to get a nasty rash in places I couldn't really scratch in public.

Here is a BBC article about the situation;

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(bbc.com September 5, 2025)

Suarez sorry for spitting at opposition coach

Inter Miami forward Luis Suarez has apologised for his behaviour after spitting at a member of the Seattle Sounders' coaching staff following his side's 3-0 Leagues Cup final defeat.

"It was a moment of great tension and frustration, where right after the match things happened that shouldn't have happened, but that doesn't justify the reaction I had," he wrote on Instagram.

"I was wrong and I sincerely regret it."

The incident happened shortly after the full-time whistle, following a melee involving both sets of players and sparked by the Uruguayan.

Suarez grabbed Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas around the neck, before team-mate Sergio Busquets struck the Mexico international on the chin.

Moments later, the 38-year-old was involved in an altercation with a Sounders staff member and was held back by team-mate Oscar Ustari before appearing to spit in the coach's direction.

"I feel bad about what happened, and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to acknowledge it and apologise to everyone who felt hurt by what I did," added Suarez.

Speculation has circulated about the extent of any punishment he may face but Suarez added he wants to aid Inter Miami's push to make the MLS Cup play-offs.

"We know there's still a lot of the season ahead, and we're going to work together to achieve the successes that this club and all of its fans deserve," he wrote.

Suarez is no stranger to controversy.

The former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid striker has been involved in several controversial incidents during his career.

In 2011 when at Liverpool, Suarez was given an eight-match ban after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United full-back Patrice Evra.

He also served bans for three separate biting incidents when playing for Ajax, Liverpool and Uruguay.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cjd1k7e9z2go

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Here is a video link to the mele;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9vqubUp3Ok

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All of this just makes me appreciate my affinity for the bullfight even more. 

You never see this uneducated behavior in the world of the bulls. Bullfighting is built around honor, manors, tradition, and an undying love for the art. Bullfighters will do everything possible to not bring shame upon themselves or the bull. Their whole goal is to bring out the best in the bull which will make the bull look good which in turn make themselves look good.

I've done a couple of posts about this in the past but bullfighters are the epitome of ethics, respectfulness, and nobility. They will get injured, break bones, bleed from getting gored, and will still do all possible to finish the performance. 

Example: this year in Pamplona, a long time bullfighter by the name Rafaelillo suffered 8 fractured ribs thanks to a nasty bull from the Jose Escolar ranch but he still finished the fight and was awarded an ear for his efforts.

Also, just today in Albacete, Saúl Jiménez Fortes (a bullfighter famous for getting gored completely through the neck in Madrid many years ago) was performing what's called a portagayola. Where that name comes from I have no idea. 

It's a risky move, one where the matador kneels in front of the "gates of fear" where the bull will soon enter the plaza, and meets the bull face to face. With a sweeping move of his cape the idea is to make the bull pass as close as possible to the bullfighter without taking a horn to the face or chest.

How it is supposed to go - 

But, it did not go as plan today and Fortes was violently tossed by the bull. With blood running down his face he brushed himself off and finished his performance, like any matador noble would do.

How it went-

Anyway, I'm thankful for this time of year. The summer heat will soon ease, and the cooler fall days and nights will return. There are still a couple of good months of bullfights to enjoy then they will take a break until March next year. At that point the bulls will begin to stir more around the rolling hills of the Spanish ranches, helping us all to wake up a bit from our winter naps.

Sevilla will come alive with its Spring Fair and all will be right with the world.

As for soccer, just get the season over with quickly so we don't have to see Suarez spitting in people's faces anymore. 

Thug.