Cloe Lacasse scored three first-half goals for the first hat trick in Royals franchise history as Utah topped the Seattle Reign 3-0 in Sandy, Utah, on Sunday to extend its winning streak to three matches.
Lacasse scored in the third and 20th minutes before her final tally came in first-half extra time. She got the first goal when she converted off a Utah corner kick, and she then followed up her own shot, which had been blocked, for the second goal.
Claudia Zornoza assisted on the third goal for the Royals (7-14-3, 24 points) by sending the ball to Lacasse just inside the box. Lacasse, who has the NWSL’s only hat trick this year, had one goal in seven matches entering Sunday.
Utah goalkeeper Mandy Haught needed just one save for the shutout.
Seattle (5-14-5, 20 points) has lost five straight matches and has failed to produce a goal in any of those. The Reign were a player down after Angharad James-Turner’s red card in the 16th minute.
Spirit 4, Racing Louisville 1
Makenna Morris scored two goals in the first half as Washington earned a victory over visiting Louisville.
Morris had goals seven minutes apart in the first half for her third and fourth tallies of the season. Ashley Hatch’s penalty kick in the 56th minute stretched the margin for Washington (16-6-2, 50 points), which bounced back from a loss to regular-season champion Orlando. Lena Silano added the final Spirit goal in second-half stoppage time.
Emma Sears scored in the 72nd minute for Racing Louisville (6-11-7, 25 points).
Dash 2, Wave 0
Barbara Olivieri scored on a penalty kick in the 30th minute and added an assist as Houston blanked host San Diego.
Olivieri’s helper came on a 72nd-minute goal by Ramona Bachmann, who helped the Dash (5-14-5, 20 points) snap a two-match skid.
The Wave (5-12-7, 22 points) have dropped four of their past six matches. Naomi Girma had the foul that led to Olivieri’s PK, and she picked up a yellow card for it.
–Field Level Media
