HERRIMAN, Utah (Wednesday, May 20, 2026) — Real Monarchs (3-4-3, 15 pts, 10th West) earned a 2-0 home victory over Colorado Rapids 2 (0-8-3, 3 pts, 14th West) at Zions Bank Stadium on Wednesday evening, powered by a brace from Van Parker, who scored the first two professional goals of his career.
Real Monarchs Head Coach Mark Lowry entered Wednesday’s match looking to build on the team’s 4-3 shootout win over San Jose Earthquakes II. Following last week’s draw, Lowry kept the same formation but made two personnel changes, giving starts to midfielder Izzy Amparo on the left flank and right midfielder Axel Uriostegui, who earned his professional debut and first career start.
Real Monarchs looked to strike first early in the match and did just that in the 3rd minute, when center back Ruben Mesalles delivered a perfectly weighted ball from the Monarchs’ own half into the path of Canadian striker Van Parker, who calmly finished to give Real Monarchs a 1-0 lead and score his first professional goal.
In the 18th minute, Gio Villa nearly doubled the advantage after firing a shot from outside the top of the penalty area, but his effort struck the lower left post to keep the score at 1-0.
Just two minutes later, wing back Jack Ottley delivered a dangerous low cross across the face of goal, where Parker met the service first time to score his second goal of the match, earning a brace and the second professional goal of his career.
Coming out of halftime, the Monarchs looked to add a third goal to their advantage. In the 51st minute, Amparo fired a shot on target, but his effort was saved to keep the score at 2-0.
Just four minutes later, goalkeeper Trace Alphin came up with a huge one-handed save to preserve the clean sheet and maintain the Monarchs’ two-goal lead.
Real Monarchs continued pushing for another goal throughout the second half but were unable to find the back of the net again. Parker’s first-half brace, combined with Alphin’s clean sheet performance, helped secure a 2-0 victory for the Monarchs, its first win since March 22, a 3-2 win over Vancouver.
Real Monarchs hit the road to British Columbia to face Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 on Sunday, May 24, at Swangard Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. MT. The match will be streamed on OneFootball.
SLC 2 : 0 COL
GOAL-SCORING SUMMARY:
SLC: Van Parker (Ruben Mesalles) 3’ — In the 3rd minute, center back Mesalles delivered a perfectly weighted ball from the Monarchs’ own half into the path of Canadian striker Parker, who calmly finished to give Real Monarchs a 1-0 lead and score his first professional goal.
SLC: Van Parker (Jack Ottley) 20’ — In the 20th minute, wing back Ottley delivered a dangerous low cross across the face of goal, where striker Parker met the service first time to score his second goal of the match, earning a brace and the second professional goal of his career.
LINEUPS:
Real Monarchs (5-4-1): Trace Alphin; Jack Ottley (Chase Duke 82’), Ruben Mesalles ©, Giovanni Calderon, Kobi Henry, Gio Villa (Felix Ewald 76’); Axel Uriotesgui (Camron Estala 90’), Luca Moisa, Liam O’Gara, Izzy Amparo; Van Parker
Subs not used: Luis Rivera, Chance Cowell, Lionel Djiro, Felix Contreras, Dylan Kropp, Konstaninos Kyriazis
Colorado Rapids 2 (4-4-2): Kendall Starks; Jabari DeCoteau, Charlie Harper, Kamal Sawadogo (Josh Copeland 77’), Jaden Tack (Bryce Jamison 45’); Sydney Wathuta, Ali Fadal ©, Landon Strohmeyer (Luis Garcia 69’), Alex Harris; Billo, James Cameron
Subs not used: Chris Aquino, Zack Campagnolo, Grant Gilmore, Noah Strellnauer
Stats Summary: SLC / COL
Shots: 10 / 14
Shots on Goal: 4 / 5
Saves: 5 / 2
Corner Kicks: 0 / 6
Fouls: 12/ 17
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
SLC: Gio Villa (Yellow Card - 67’)
COL: Ali Fadal (Yellow Card - 74’)
SLC: Kobi Henry (Yellow Card - 88’)
SLC: Chase Duke (Yellow Card - 90+5’)
