Month: July 2022

Current hopes to extend unbeaten streak against Spirit on the road

The Kansas City Current (3-4-3, 12 points) remains on the road this weekend to play the Washington Spirit (1-4-6, 9 points) for the first time in the 2022 campaign.

The match kicks off at 4 p.m. Sunday, July 10, in Leesburg, Virginia, and will be broadcast locally on KMCI, 38 the Spot and stream nationally on Paramount+.

Head coach Matt Potter’s Current extended its unbeaten run to a club-best five matches in a 2-1 road victory over the Houston Dash on July 1.

The Current found the net on each side of the halftime break, with midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta converting a penalty kick in the 43rd minute and Hailie Mace scoring the match-winning goal off a Cece Kizer assist in the 46th minute. The win marked Kansas City’s first-ever regular season road win in NWSL regular season play.

The Washington Spirit fell 2-1 on the road against the San Diego Wave on July 3. Without seven U.S. Women’s National Team players due to the ongoing CONCACAF W Championship, the Spirit fell behind 2-0 in the first half and was unable to make up the difference. Midfielder Jordan Baggett scored Washington’s lone goal of the contest, a headed finish in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.

Inside the streak

With Sunday’s match marking the official halfway point of the 2022 NWSL regular season, the Kansas City Current has nearly eclipsed last season’s point total of 16.

The Current’s torrid start to the 2022 campaign has been boosted by the team’s ongoing five-match unbeaten streak, in which Kansas City has found positive results in a multitude of ways. Strong defensive performances have anchored recent shutout victories over Racing Louisville and NJ/NY Gotham, while the goalscoring prowess of forward Kristen Hamilton has helped the Current secure draws against the Wave and the Chicago Red Stars.

Kansas City has trailed for a total of just 10 minutes over its last five matches, which all came in the buildup to Kizer’s equalizing goal against the Red Stars on June 18. Most impressively, the unbeaten streak has catapulted the Current into the mix for a potential spot in the NWSL playoffs.

Franch makes five saves against Houston

Current goalkeeper A.D. Franch had another stellar performance against Houston on Friday night.


The Salina, Kansas, native made five saves against Houston to extend her total in the 2022 regular season to 37, which ranks second in the NWSL

Franch made a variety of stops to keep Houston at bay in both halves, but the best came in a double-save sequence in the 88th minute. A deflected cross from the left wing forced Franch backwards to make a diving stop, which she parried just outside of the goal box. The ball fell to Dash midfielder Emily Ogle, then Franch dove forward to deny Ogle’s second-chance effort.

Franch also eclipsed 350 career saves in her NWSL career against the Dash.

Players to watch

Kansas City Current defender Hailie Mace — Mace has been stellar over Kansas City’s last three matches but had her best performance last Friday. Mace was dangerous all evening down the wings, though she helped set up her goal from a central position. She picked up the ball in the opening seconds of the second half about 35 yards from the goal and found Kizer on the right wing, then made a trailing run awaiting Kizer’s pass. From there, Mace calmly slotted the ball home at the penalty spot to double the Current’s lead. Mace will look to continue her run against the Spirit following her first goal of the regular season.

Washington Spirit forward Tara McKeown — The former USC Trojan and No. 8 overall pick in the 2021 NWSL College Draft made her first appearance of the 2022 regular season last weekend against San Diego. McKeown played the entirety of the second half and looked threatening, assisting on the Spirit’s only goal of the match and recording a shot on goal. McKeown had a productive rookie season in 2021, playing in 23 matches and starting 13. The Newbury Park, California, native scored one goal, recorded 15 key passes and had two assists in her rookie campaign.

  • Story from KC Current

Home runs make a difference for Monarchs in Lincoln

by Jaxson Webb, Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs (33-17) slugged home runs number 103, 104, and 105 on the season in a close call on the road Friday against the Lincoln Saltdogs (25-24).

Casey Gillaspie played a huge factor in the game with his glove and his two-home-run night.

The Saltdogs jumped out in front in the Monarchs fourth consecutive road game on Friday night with a run in the bottom of the second inning.

The Monarchs’ offense was able to easily combat the early 1-0 deficit with three consecutive innings with one run in each the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.

Catcher J.C. Escarra drove in the Monarchs’ first run in the fourth inning on a single that scored Willie Abreu.

The next two innings were both long-ball innings for Kansas City. Jan Hernandez mashed his 20th homer of the season to give the visiting Monarchs a 2-1 lead. A few minutes later Casey Gillaspie added a moonshot of his own to add to the lead (3-1).

After surrendering a run in the second inning, Monarchs’ starter Matt Hartman went on a tear with four scoreless frames in a row. The right-hander showed the entire Lincoln crowd just why he was selected to compete in the American Association All-Star game next week in Chicago.

Hartman finished the game with six innings pitched, one run, three bases on balls, seven strikeouts and just two hits.

Casey Gillaspie went deep again for Kansas City, making it his second homer on the night, and it gave his team a larger lead at 4-1.

The Saltdogs, however, made things extremely interesting in their last call during the bottom of the ninth inning. Jameson McGrane came from the Monarchs’ bullpen to seal the deal, but the first three Lincoln hitters reached base before Kansas City could get an out.

Hunter Clanin shot a single into the outfield to cut the Monarchs’ lead down to 4-2. With runners on and still nobody out, the Monarchs needed a stop. The man for the job was Casey Gillaspie, continuing his terrific evening. The left-handed first baseman made the biggest defensive play of the evening by recording a 3-6 double play.


The next batter was out on strikes by Jameson McGrane to complete the series opener victory over the Lincoln Saltdogs (4-2).

The Monarchs will continue the series with the Saltdogs at 7:05 p.m. Saturday in Lincoln.


The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:35 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.

Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.

Sporting visits Montreal today

Sporting Kansas City (4-11-4, 16 points) will continue the club’s MLS campaign with a trip north of the border to take on reigning Canadian Championship winners CF Montreal (9-7-2, 29 points) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Stade Saputo.

Saturday’s match will be locally televised on 38 The Spot with three hours of coverage beginning at 6 p.m. The broadcast will also stream live on SportingKC.com and in the Sporting KC app for viewers in Kansas and Missouri (excluding the St. Louis area per MLS policy), as well as ESPN+ for out-of-market subscribers. Local radio broadcasts will also air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

Saturday’s cross-conference clash kicks off a three-game road trip in which Sporting will play in three different time zones in a nine-day span. The challenge comes as four players remain sidelined with injuries – including designated players Gadi Kinda and Alan Pulido – while Graham Zusi missed the club’s last match with a quad injury and is questionable to return.

Montreal is coping with a major absence of its own as MLS MVP candidate Djordje Mihailovic has been sidelined since May 28. The U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder has seven goals and four assists this season for a high-scoring squad that leads the league in first half goals and features eight different players with multiple goals in 2022.

Among those are Mason Toye, who last month completed a 10-month comeback from shoulder surgery, and Romell Quioto, a Honduran international who has six goals and three assists this season, as well as former Sporting KC striker Kei Kamara. The 37-year-old spent five seasons in Kansas City from 2009 to 2013 and his 133 career regular season goals are fourth most in MLS history, one shy of tying Jeff Cunningham for third on the league’s all-time chart.

Sporting has not played in Montreal since June 2018 and last faced Montreal in March 2019 when Johnny Russell scored twice in a record-setting 7-1 victory at Children’s Mercy Park that marked the most goals scored in club history and the team’s largest margin of victory.

Montreal’s nine wins in 2022 are tied for most in the Eastern Conference, however Montreal enters Saturday’s match coming off a 4-0 loss to the LA Galaxy on July 4 which was the side’s most lopsided loss since the 7-1 defeat in Kansas City.

In the all-time series, Sporting holds the advantage with a 7-4-3 record against Montreal since it joined MLS a decade ago. That includes a 5-1-2 mark in the last eight regular season meetings and a winning record (3-2-2) at Stade Saputo.

  • Story from Sporting KC