Month: April 2022

KC Current defeats Houston Dash, 2-1

Kansas City Current reclaimed first place in the Central Division of the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup with a 2-1 win over the Houston Dash on Friday night in front of a crowd of over 5,000 fans at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

“Obviously, nothing like a home win,” head coach Matt Potter said. “Delighted with the result. Incredible again with the noise, the atmosphere and the fanbase was fantastic all the way through and certainly helped towards the end of the game. That was the first thing we wanted to do when the game ended, was go celebrate with the people that matter.”

The Current kicked things off with an early goal in the fourth minute. Rookie midfielder Izzy Rodriguez, making her first professional start, found herself on the end of a ball kept in bounds by forward Elyse Bennett.

Rodriguez crossed it through the penalty box to find forward Kristen Hamilton, who headed it past the Houston goalkeeper. It was Rodriguez’s first career assist.

The Dash nearly answered in the 28th minute when defender Michelle Alonzie found herself open on the right flank. Current goalkeeper Adrianna Franch made a diving save to keep the lead for Kansas City.

However, Kansas City native Shea Groom tied the score for the Dash in the 59th minute, finding herself on the end of a long cross from Maria Sànchez. Her shot slid underneath Franch to tie the game.

Just three minutes after being subbed on, midfielder Victoria Pickett retook the lead for Kansas City in the 80th minute.

A free kick for the Current from Edmonds found Chardonnay Curran in the box, who fought to keep the ball before it deflected off the back line and fell to the feet of Pickett. Pickett’s shot sailed through the legs of goalkeeper Jane Campbell for the Current’s game winner.

“It’s a team effort and it’s going to take every single one of us,” midfielder Victoria Pickett said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re in the starting eleven or coming off the bench or if you’re in the stands. Everyone plays a huge part on this team. I think it’s great that we have that type of chemistry, both on and off the pitch.”

With 10 points (3-1-1), the Current lead the Central Division of the NWSL Challenge Cup. They’ll take on second place Chicago Red Stars at home at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 24. Season tickets and flex plans are available for all home matches at Children’s Mercy Park. For ticket information visit kansascitycurrent.com.

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Faith news

Note: Please contact the church or check its social media pages to see if it is having services or making schedule changes in the event of inclement weather or high COVID numbers.

Blessed Sacrament and Christ the King Catholic churches have information about Masses at the churches’ websites or Facebook pages at www.facebook.com/Christ-the-King-Parish-KCKS-1392808997677579 and www.facebook.com/BlessedSacramentkck. For Holy Week, Christ the King will have a Mass in English at 8:30 p.m. April 16; and the normal Sunday schedule for Easter Masses, 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sunday. Blessed Sacrament will have a Mass at 8:30 p.m. in Spanish Saturday, April 16; and the normal Sunday schedule on Easter, 7:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. Sunday.

Casa – Worship House Christian Church, 5217 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, Kansas, has Easter Sunday services at 11 a.m. The church will celebrate Resurrection Sunday. There will be pinatas and Easter eggs after the service. See more details for this Sunday at www.facebook.com/casadealabanzaKCKS. For more information, visit Facebook @casadealabanzaKCKS.

Cornerstone Apostolic Church, 8040 Parallel Parkway, will hold an Easter worship service at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, April 17. After the service, there will be an Easter egg hunt for children ages 2 to 13. For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/CornerstoneApostolicKCK/.

The First Christian Church of Bonner Springs will hold a Community Blood Center blood drive from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 11, at the church, 148 N. Nettleton, Bonner Springs, in the Fellowship Hall. To make an appointment, visit savealifenow.org or call 816-753-4040.

“The Gospel of Nonviolence” will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, at the Keeler Women’s Center, 759 Vermont Ave., Suite 100B, Kansas City, Kansas. Peg Burns will lead the group. Registration for the free program is required to 913-689-9375 or visit www.keelerwomenscenter.org.

Oak Ridge Missionary Baptist Church, 9301 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, Kansas, will have information about services, and registration at https://www.facebook.com/ORMBCKC or http://ormbc.org/church-online/. The Easter worship celebration will be at 9 a.m. Sunday, April 17. “Victory” will be presented by the Music and Arts Ministry.

Open Door Baptist Church, 3033 N. 103rd Terrace, Kansas City, Kansas, will have Easter services at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, April 17. For information, see https://www.opendoorkc.com/livestream. For more information see https://www.facebook.com/opendoorkc/ and https://www.opendoorkc.com/.

Our Lady and St. Rose Catholic Church, 2300 N. 8th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will hold Mass at 11 a.m. Easter Sunday, April 17. For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/ourladyandsaintrose.

Stony Point Christian Church, 149 S. 78th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will have a worship service on Easter Sunday, April 17, at 10:15 a.m. There is no Sunday School on April 17. Stony Point is planning an Easter pancake breakfast from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 17, in the church coffee shop. See more information at https://www.facebook.com/StonyPointChristianChurch.

St. Patrick Catholic Church, 1086 N. 94th St., Kansas City, Kansas, has information about Masses, and livestreamed Masses, at https://www.facebook.com/StPatrickKCK. St. Patrick’s Easter Mass times are Easter Vigil Mass at 8:30 p.m. on Holy Saturday, April 16; and Easter Masses at 7:30 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:45 p.m. in Spanish and 2:30 p.m. in Burmese on Easter Sunday, April 17. St. Patrick church will have a Divine Mercy Holy Hour from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, April 24.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1300 N. 18th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will have Easter Sunday services and Eucharist at 10 a.m. Sunday, April 17. See more information at https://www.facebook.com/StPaulsKCK/ or https://www.stpaulskck.org/.

Sunset Hills Christian Church, 6347 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, Kansas, has Easter services and brunch at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, April 17. The Wednesday Night Bible Study will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Fellowship Hall. Livestream services are at https://www.facebook.com/sunsethills.christianchurch/. For more information visit [email protected] or email [email protected].

Wyandotte United Methodist Church, 7901 Oakland Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, will hold an early service at 7:30 a.m. Easter Sunday, April 17. It will be followed by a breakfast in Fellowship Hall from 8:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. The Sunday school for all ages will meet at 9 a.m. April 17. An Easter communion, prayer and music service will be at 10 a.m. Sunday, April 17. For more information, including information about livestreamed services, see https://www.facebook.com/Wyandotteumc.

Information about other church services in Wyandotte County may be available from the church’s social media page.
To send in items for the Faith News, email information to [email protected]. Please include your name and contact information.

Sporting KC travels to LA Sunday

Sporting Kansas City (2-5-0, 6 points) will face first place Los Angeles FC (4-1-1, 13 points) at 3 p.m. on Sunday at Banc of California Stadium in a nationally televised match between the Western Conference foes.

The Easter Sunday showdown in Los Angeles will be broadcast live on ESPN, with Jon Champion and Taylor Twellman on the call, and ESPN Deportes, featuring the commentary team of Mauricio Pedroza, Alex Pareja and Herculez Gomez.

In addition, the MLS Week 7 finale will have a global audience on six continents courtesy of an enhanced production available via 20 of the league’s international broadcast partners. Radio broadcasts will also be available locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

Two Sporting Kansas City veterans are poised to reach major milestones on Sunday as Graham Zusi is on the cusp of his 350th appearance in MLS competition. Additionally, Roger Espinoza is one regular season match away from tying Matt Besler for second on the club’s all-time games played chart.

Sporting Kansas City will be aiming for the club’s first win in April after back-to-back losses as well as the club’s first away result of the year following defeats in each of the team’s four road trips in 2022.

Dating back to last season, Sporting has lost each of its last six road matches – a streak that is the team’s worst since the non-shootout era began in 2000 and the league’s longest active skid.

Nevertheless, Sporting is the only team to have beaten LAFC twice at Banc of California Stadium in MLS competition and manager Peter Vermes’ squad holds a narrow advantage in the all-time series with a 4-3-0 record since LAFC entered MLS in 2018.

Sporting won the season series in 2021 with a 2-1 comeback win at Children’s Mercy Park in June thanks to Daniel Salloi’s 87th-minute match-winning goal. Salloi struck again in a 4-1 victory at LAFC in August – and represented Sporting at the 2021 MLS All-Star Game at Banc of California Stadium later that month – but missed the final meeting between the clubs in September due to international duty as LAFC prevailed 4-0, scoring three goals after going up a man in the second half.

Supporters’ Shield winners in 2019 and Concacaf Champions League runner-up in 2020, LAFC missed the playoffs in 2021 and parted ways with head coach Bob Bradley. New manager Steve Cherundolo has his side atop the Western Conference table and the odds-on favorite in Las Vegas to win both the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup.

While Sporting has scored the fewest goals in MLS in 2022, LAFC leads the league with 14 goals scored by nine different players. The team’s potent attack boasts 27-year-old Colombian forward Cristian Arango, who led the team with 14 goals in 2021, and 21-year-old Uruguayan striker Brian Rodriguez, who is expected to miss Sunday’s match after exiting LAFC’s last match early in the first half with a hamstring injury.

But no star shines brighter in LAFC’s illustrious lineup than 2019 MLS MVP and Golden Boot winner Carlos Vela. The 33-year-old Mexican winger opened the season with a hat trick and provided the game-winning goal in LAFC’s last home match to give Vela four goals this season – one shy of the league lead in a Golden Boot race he’s currently favored to win – along with two assists.

However, Vela’s production has been limited historically against Sporting Kansas City with his 0.63 goal contributions per 90 minutes in the series, ranking lowest of any team he’s played at least three times in his MLS career.

Since arriving in MLS in 2018, Vela set the league’s single-season record for goals with 34 in 2019 and leads all MLS players with 98 goal contributions (61 goals, 37 assists) in the past five seasons.

Third on that list is Sporting KC captain Johnny Russell with 41 goals and 31 assists, presenting a head-to-head match between two of the league’s most dangerous wingers on Sunday.

Sporting will remain without two of the team’s most dangerous attacking players as designated players Gadi Kinda and Alan Pulido are sidelined with long-term knee injuries. Midfielder Uri Rosell is questionable to return from a thigh injury that kept him out of Sporting’s 2-1 loss to Nashville SC last weekend.

LAFC is also coming off a 2-1 loss after suffering its first setback of the season against rival LA Galaxy. Midfielder Ilie Sanchez, who played the past five seasons with Sporting KC before joining LAFC as a free agent, is the only LAFC field player to play every minute this season and joins former Sporting KC teammate Latif Blessing in the LAFC midfield.

In addition to Ilie’s arrival in the offseason, LAFC acquired goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau and midfielder Kellyn Acosta in seven-figure deals to boost a defense that is yet to concede a second-half goal this season.

LAFC has outscored opponents 7-0 in the second half in 2022 after dropping 23 points – second most in MLS – from leading positions in 2021.

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