This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Real Salt Lake coach Mike Petke knew.

Of course he knew.

Just look at his Twitter timeline. Petke turned from Real Monarchs coach, even if only for a couple months, into a huge fan of the Monarchs, the United Soccer League affiliate of RSL.

"If you read my tweets — I don't tweet very often anymore — but whenever I do, it's about the Monarchs and [coach Mike Briggs]," Petke said.

And what was the big news? The Monarchs broke the USL record for consecutive wins Monday when they tallied their ninth consecutive victory with a 2-1 win against Reno. Orlando City had set the previous record with eight straight wins in 2014.

"It's great to have achieved what we achieved and to have the record," Briggs said. "To be honest, it's kind of a relief. I think the players were getting a little tense wanting to break that record. Now we've done it, so it's a stress off our shoulders. Now we can go back and play at the level we were playing before."

The third-year Monarchs are 12-1-0 this season, an impressive improvement over last year's 10-win total. They also have scored 32 goals so far in 2017, the same number they registered in 30 games in 2016.

"Everyone is pushing. No one is satisfied," forward Chandler Hoffman said. "A lot of the time when you win some games, you get complacent. This group, although we broke that record, we are not where we want to be. We think we can still get better."

Hoffman leads the team with eight goals, which ranks third in the league.

"I set a goal earlier this year that I wanted to score 25 goals," Hoffman said. "The record is 22, but I set the bar at 25. We still have quite a few games left, and I'm hoping I can hit that. The most important thing is that we keep winning, but I think if we keep winning, I'll keep scoring."

Hoffman has been receiving help from midfielders Sebastian Velasquez, who is tied for the league lead with six assists, and Charlie Adams, who has five assists.

"With me and [Velasquez] at the top, we have a really good understanding of where the other one is going to be," Hoffman said. "So other teams can't just focus on him or focus on me. There are tons of different players they have to worry about, and that helps us be successful."

The Monarch will try to extend their record Saturday when they travel to Arizona to take on Phoenix Rising.

"There is definitely pressure" to keep winning, Briggs said. "There is a pride and a standard that we want to keep, and that involves winning games." —

Real Monarchs

Record • 12-1-0

Next • Saturday at Phoenix Rising