Utah Royals are on a seven-match unbeaten streak. Are they the NWSL’s new protagonists?

“I think probably the biggest change for us is just standards. It’s a clear understanding of what people can get away with and what they don’t get away with and what we need to be successful,” he said.

The Royals may not have shiny names on their team sheet, but they do have players like Japanese forward Mina Tanaka and center-back Kate Del Fava, both of whom Coenraets said drive the professional culture in the squad.

Tanaka was the Royals’ leading goal scorer last season. She missed the team’s first two games as she was off winning a continental title with Japan, but marked her 2026 NWSL debut with a late equalizer against the Washington Spirit. Her spatial awareness affords her the ability to roam about the pitch, plugging into spaces as needed without being confined to them and triggering attacks as she sees opportunities to exploit. Coenraets has normalized those liberties this season.

“We just told her, ‘Look, here is a structure, and within that structure you get your free role. You get to move where you want, how you want, and players around you will adapt to it,’” he said.

Against Bay on Sunday, she sliced through the home side’s defense with one well-textured through ball to Paige Cronin that was saved by goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz in their 1 v 1 encounter.

Utah’s protection of its goal has improved mightily this season. They conceded 40 goals in 2024 and 42 in 2025 in 26 fixtures. This year, they’ve conceded six out of nine, joint-second best in the division, level with second-placed Spirit and one behind fifth-place Gotham FC.

Del Fava is central to that. A back-to-back NWSL Iron Woman, Del Fava is poised for another season playing every minute of every match, likely with the same efficiency. She has won 77 percent of her aerial duels and has made 20 tackles and interceptions each, contributing to Utah’s five clean sheets on the season so far.

“I think she still has a very big ceiling, and I’m hoping (she’s) going to (receive) a call-up in June,” Coenraets said, referring to the pair of USWNT friendlies in Brazil next month.

“I’m not going to lie. She already deserves it in my opinion, but I think she’s knocking on the door, and if she receives the opportunity to do so, people will see how quality she is, not only for a group on the pitch, but also how she will lead off the pitch.”

Three games remain before players leave for national team duty: a test against a Racing Louisville side buoyed by a recent upset of the table-topping Portland Thorns, a well-managed Denver Summit, and the Thorns themselves on May 30.

In the past, the Royals have surged in the latter half of the season, and a landmark signing during the summer transfer window could propel them further toward that.

Then again, so, too, could continuing to believe in their process.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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