EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ - While the Santa Clarita Blue Heat (1-0-1) have been drawing all the early-season headlines in the UWS West, the Real Salt Lake Women (1-1) and Colorado Pride (2-0) have quietly gone about their work so far in conference play. The Real Women avenged their home-opener loss to the Houston Aces (1-2) on the road this past Saturday night while the Pride secured first-place in the West via a come-from-behind home victory over their in-state rivals Storm (0-1-1) on Sunday afternoon.

RSL were powered in their 4-1 win over the Aces by the offensive skills of midfielder Elena Medeiros, who was a All-West Coast Conference & NSCAA All-West Region First Team selection for Brigham Young University last fall. Except for the Storm’s lone quality scoring chance that they converted on in the 2-1 loss to the Pride, the host’s defense were resolute thanks to defender Beth Plentl, who also had a say in the eventual game-winning goal. With that said, Medeiros has garnered UWS West Offensive Player of the Week honors while Plentl is tabbed as Defensive Player of the Week.

The Real Women distanced themselves from Houston in Saturday’s match via a three-goal explosion midway through the first half. Medeiros was at the center of it all, assisting on the first goal in the 17th minute, scoring the eventual game-winner in the 21st minute and helping complete the scoring run with an assist on their third goal in the 24th minute. After going down a player in the second half, the BYU star solidified the win for RSL with her second goal of the match on a counter attack in the 90th minute.

In the win over the Storm that has given the Pride the early lead in the UWS West race, Plenty helped bottle up the middle of the pitch which limited the Storm to only two shots on goal the entire match. The Colorado State defensive midfielder was opportunistic in the attacking third as well. In the 92nd minute of the match, Plentl struck a 30-yard blast that clanged off the crossbar and created the winning score by teammate Michaela Abam off her rebound.

About United Women’s Soccer (UWS): UWS is a national women’s soccer league sanctioned by U.S. Soccer through the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA). UWS is a professionally operated league created for teams that meet high minimum standards. The season runs from May until the end of July, culminating in a National Championship match. The UWS player pool is comprised of college players, aspiring & former professionals and international stars. You can follow UWS on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

UWS is managed by EDP, a leading soccer management company that runs a number of leagues and tournaments.  In addition to UWS, EDP operates youth leagues that includes an NPL league, the EDP Super Club program, the EDP Premier League and the EDP Championship League. EDP also runs EDP Futures programs for U-7’s to U-12’s and it conducts more than 20 youth tournaments, including tournaments within its EDP Cup Series and EDP Showcase Series.

Media can contact UWS Director of Communications Jorma Kansanen by e-mail at Press@UWSSoccer.com. You can visit the league’s official website at UWSSoccer.com. Interested team applicants can contact League Commissioner Joe Ferrara by e-mail at Joe@UWSSoccer.com.