SALT LAKE CITY, Ut. – Saint Louis FC drew 1-1 against Real Monarchs SLC in front of 1,180 fans at Zions Bank Stadium in Match 30 of the USL Regular Season.

Saint Louis FC opened the scoring early as has been the theme for most of the season when Wal Fall tapped-in from close range after having his penalty shot saved in the 9th minute. Real Monarchs would respond shortly after halftime as José Hernández scored from inside the box to level the match in the 48th minute to see both sides earn a point. The result moves Saint Louis FC to 11-8-10 overall with 43 points while Real Monarchs SLC improve to 18-9-3 with 54 points in the USL Western Conference.

The first half saw Saint Louis FC come out with purpose and they nearly scored from the first chance of the game in the 5th minute as Fall was found at the near post by Kyle Culbertson from a corner kick but his header narrowly went over the crossbar. Albert Dikwa was then fouled in the box by former STLFC defender Konrad Plewa in the 6th minute and Fall stepped up to take the penalty but the initial shot was saved by St. Louis Scott Gallagher alum and current Real Monarchs goalkeeper Jake Leeker. Fall would collect the rebound, however, and tuck away the opportunity for his fifth goal of the season in the 9th minute. Real Monarchs would respond with a chance from team-leading scorer Chandler Hoffman in the 22nd minute but his first-time effort from a cross would drift wide of the post. STLFC goalkeeper Tomas Gomez was then called into action in the 30th minute as Josh Heard found himself with a free header but he was denied by Gomez to see the away side maintain the 1-0 lead heading into the halftime break.

The second half saw Real Monarchs respond with the equalizer as Maikel Chang created space on the right side and pulled the ball back to Hernández who was waiting on the penalty spot to finish first-time past Gomez in the 48th minute. Lewis Hilton then had a good chance from outside the box but his shot was deflected over the crossbar in the 53rd minute. Gomez once again made a good save on Chang who was played behind the defense in the 58th minute before his counterpart Leeker made a diving save on a shot from Dikwa who was able to cut inside his defender in the 61st minute. Both sides would continue to go back and forth but the final chance came to substitute Corey Hertzog who took a free kick from outside the box that barely went wide of the top corner in the 90th minute to see both sides finish level.

“Really frustrating to drop two points from a winning position and to concede such a sloppy goal,” said STLFC Head Coach Anthony Pulis. “Credit to Monarchs though as they’re a good side and they had us pinned in for long stretches. But we always thought we’d be able to create opportunities on the break which we did, unfortunately our decision-making or execution in those situations wasn’t good enough tonight to get the second goal. Now we have to recover and get ready for another big game at Swope Park on Saturday.”

UPCOMING GAMES:

Saint Louis FC at Swope Park Rangers – Saturday, September 15th at 4:00 p.m. CT at Children’s Mercy Park

Real Monarchs SLC at Orange County SC – Wednesday, September 19th at 9:00 p.m. CT at Champions Soccer Stadium