HERRIMAN, Utah – Given the prolificacy with which Real Monarchs SLC forward Chandler Hoffman has found the net during his career in the USL, the fact that it took more than a month – and the span of seven games without a goal – to become the third player to reach 50 regular-season goals in the league’s modern era might have been surprising.

Hoffman’s landmark moment almost arrived on the same night as Zion’s Bank Stadium opened, only for his finish against Las Vegas Lights FC on April 30 to be ruled out for offside, so when the assistant referee’s flag stayed down in the 68th minute on Tuesday night against Sacramento Republic FC for what proved to be the only goal of a 1-0 victory for Real, there was a certain amount of relief for the veteran.

“It’s incredible,” said Hoffman of reaching the milestone. “I feel like I was stuck on 49 for a minute. If you look back at some of the games, I scored but they would call me offsides and I would have near misses. Soccer is a crazy game, you can see that you’re in and out of the team really quick. We have a lot of good players. It was important for me to remind everyone what I can do.”

READ MORE: Monarchs Edge Out Republic FC

Hoffman follows current D.C. United forward Dane Kelly and the Charlotte Independence’s Jorge Herrera in hitting 50 regular-season goals, with the likes of Louisville City FC’s George Davis IV and OKC Energy FC’s Jose Angulo looking the next in line to reach the mark. Hoffman accomplished the landmark faster than either of his two predecessors, though, hitting the mark in his 100th regular-season game in the league.

After earning USL All-League honors in both 2014 for the LA Galaxy II and 2016 with Louisville City FC, Hoffman’s current teammates and coaches were pleased for his achievement, especially given the fact that it gave the side an important victory against a fellow Western Conference contender.

“I feel good for Chandler,” said Monarchs Interim Coach Jamison Olave. “He had been going through a difficult situation such as playing in the [starting] 11 then as a sub and not scoring. Today he came off the bench and scored a great goal that gave us the three points.”

After missing out on the opportunity to pull within a point of Real at the top of the Western Conference standings, Republic FC Head Coach Simon Elliott was philosophical about a night of missed opportunity for his side.

“I really don’t know if that was a penalty or not,” said Elliott. “I do know it was a really good chance and we missed it. We needed to pick ourselves up and create more chances and as you said, it started to fall off for us right about then. In the end we didn’t create good enough chances and Salt Lake did.”

And on the night, one chance stood out amongst all the others as Hoffman sent the Monarchs five points clear at the top of the Western Conference.

“It was important,” said Hoffman. “Portland was right behind in points, Sacramento was behind us in points, so after we dropped points this weekend we had to get a result tonight and solidify ourselves back in that top spot,” said Hoffman. “For me personally, I need to solidify myself back in the lineup. I had a lot to play for and I’m happy I came through.”