The Real Monarchs won last season’s USL regular-season title, but they know the disappointment of losing in the playoffs last season remains.
“From Day 1 everyone knows the expectation is we want to win the championship,” forward Chandler Hoffman said, “and not just the regular season, but the USL Cup.”
The Monarchs retained nine players from last year’s roster. However, when building this year’s team, the club continued to use the youth-plus-experience equation that worked last year. That squad set a league winning-streak record (nine games) and lost one match at home.
With a depth of talent at their disposal, the Monarchs’ success will ride on their ability to foster the same level of team chemistry as last season.
“We’ve had a very long preseason,” coach Mark Briggs said, “longer than most players are used to, but I think it’s been a positive in the fact that it’s brought people together, people understand one another’s tendencies, both with and without the ball, and then collectively as a group and our culture, I think it’s growing all the time.”
The Monarchs brought in several new players with USL backgrounds, including former Charleston players Maikel Chang and Justin Portillo, and former Colorado Springs midfielder Mastanabal Kacher.
“I think we’re better than we were last year,” said Briggs, the 2017 USL Coach of the Year
They also kept the core of last season’s roster together. Within that group, Hoffman and midfielders Sebastian Velasquez and Charlie Adams bring experience.
“In a lot of the scrimmages there have been moments where we press together as a group and I feel really confident,” Hoffman said, “and then the combinations of our attacking play has been really good. ... So we’re ready to play in games that matter because you can come out and train every day, but until the game actually means something it’s going to be a different feeling and environment.”
Real Monarchs have the added challenge, in terms of continuity, and advantage, when it comes to talent, of being sandwiched between the first team at RSL and the Academy.
This weekend, while RSL has a bye, a group of eight first team non-starters join the Monarchs for the opener. On the other side of the equation, the Monarchs built their roster with keeping rising Academy stars in mind for the future.
The Monarchs open their season at Tulsa on Saturday, before returning to Utah to take on Portland Timbers 2 at Rio Tinto Stadium the following weekend.