Utah Had 37 Percent of the Ball and 36 Clearances: Kiana Palacios Sends the Royals Past San Diego in the NWSL Quarterfinals

Utah Had 37 Percent of the Ball and 36 Clearances: Kiana Palacios Sends the Royals Past San Diego in the NWSL Quarterfinals

Utah had lost its last five meetings with San Diego. With 37 percent possession, 36 clearances and four Mandy McGlynn saves, the Royals won 1-0 on Kiana Palacios's goal.

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San Diego had beaten Utah in each of their previous five meetings, including 4-2 at Snapdragon Stadium in August. On Friday night the Royals came back to the same stadium, kept the ball for barely more than a third of the game, and won the one that mattered.

The Utah Royals beat the San Diego Wave 1-0 in an NWSL quarterfinal in front of 12,638, according to ESPN's match report. Kiana Palacios scored the only goal in the 30th minute, a left-footed finish from the center of the box to the bottom right corner off a cross from Cloé Lacasse.

Utah Defended for an Hour: 36 Clearances, 16 Interceptions

San Diego had 62.8 percent of the ball, 16 shots, five on target and 10 corners. Utah answered with 36 clearances to San Diego's 10, 16 interceptions to six and 33 tackles. The Royals took eight shots and put two on target. Mandy McGlynn made four saves for the clean sheet.

Palacios, who also picked up a yellow card, took four of Utah's eight shots. The Royals collected four yellow cards in all to San Diego's one. Utah completed 180 of 286 passes and played 70 long balls, more than San Diego's 42, going over the press rather than through it.

Next: The NWSL Semifinals

Utah moves on to the semifinals. Its opponent comes out of the weekend's other quarterfinals: Angel City at Kansas City on Saturday, then Seattle at Gotham and Portland at Washington on Sunday. Follow the league on the BallerTube NWSL page.