On Friday night, the Utah Royals pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the NWSL season when they came into Providence Park and took down the Portland Thorns 2-1.
One of the heroes? Utah goalkeeper, Mandy McGlynn. After holding Gotham FC and Angel City to shutouts, McGlynn nearly had her third consecutive. Her 11 saves were massive in the victory, with the only blemish a half-volley rocket from Portland’s Julie Dufour in stoppage time.
However, there would be one more hero who waited all season for
this moment too.
With the team looking for their first road win of the season and clinging to a 1-0 lead, the Royals were looking for one final goal to finish it.
In the 85th minute, Bianca St-Georges drove to the right side of the box and took the initial shot, Mina Tanaka would follow it up – both were denied by Mackenzie Arnold. But, on the third attempt, KK Ream rebounded home the game-winner to make it 2-0. Thanks to the goal, she made history and became the youngest goalscorer in NWSL regular season with her game-winner.
“It shows how hard I’ve been working to just get minutes of the field,” said Ream. “I’m just grateful to contribute to the team, in the best way that I can.”
At just 16 years old, KK Ream now has her name in the league record book, and an extremely bright future ahead.
