Monarchs know they’ll need their winning road formula to prevail in USL Championship Game

Herriman • The Real Monarchs are just one win away from history.

The United Soccer League affiliate of Real Salt Lake is in the midst of a playoff run that will culminate Sunday on the road against Louisville City FC for the league title. Should they prevail, it will the the first championship in Monarchs history, and the first in the RSL organization as a whole since the 2009 MLS Cup.

The Monarchs are well aware of what’s at stake. And they’re well aware that they will have to put together a performance similar to what they did on the road against the Phoenix Rising, the top team in the Western Conference in the regular season.

The team will have to do it without forward and leading scorer Douglas Martinez, who was suspended by the league for one game for engaging in violent conduct just before the end of last weekend’s win over El Paso. But the team feels confident going into Sunday.

“It’s about us going out there and playing as hard as we can,” defender Erik Holt said. “We’ve shown that we can beat some of the top teams — like Phoenix — on the road.”

There’s a catch, though. The Monarchs didn’t play a single game against Louisville, home or away, in the 2019 regular season. In fact, they’ve never played Louisville.

The only Eastern Conference team the Monarchs have faced in their history is Tampa, and that was last season. The reason for that is each teams largely only play opponents within their own conference, due in part to travel costs and the need for both a home and away game against opponents.

With 36 teams in the league and 34 games for any one team in the regular season, it makes more logistical sense to play inter-conference foes twice.

But what’s on the mind of the Monarchs is just getting the opportunity to play again and keep the good feelings around the team going.

“It’s kind of a bit of an addiction,” defender Luke Mulholland said. “You get that much of a high playing and winning in the playoffs that you’re just looking forward to your next fix.”

After making history in every round and upsetting Phoenix in the process, one could say the team is playing with house money. The Monarchs, however, don’t share that opinion.

“We’re going in to Louisville with not really any pressure on us to do anything,” Mulholland said. “But I think individually and collectively, our expectation is we’re going there to pick up the trophy and come back. So we’ll see.”

Interim coach Jamison Olave said he’s focused more on helping players keep their mental edge throughout the playoff run. He’s even encouraged the team to embrace and enjoy all the new ground they’re covering as a team and, by extension, the organization.

With just one game left for all the marbles, the Monarchs seem relaxed and ready for the challenge.

“We’re just trying to end this on the best note possible,” Holt said.