The Kansas City Current will play NJ-NJ Gotham FC at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
The Current most recently played to a 2-2 draw against first-place San Diego Wave, with forwards Elyse Bennett and Kristen Hamilton each scoring.
Gotham won a 1-0 victory last Saturday over the Washington Spirit, its second 1-0 victory in a row. Forward Midge Purce provided the lone goal of the match.
The match will be streamed nationally on Paramount+, and it will be broadcast locally on KMCI, Channel 38. For ticket information, see https://www.kansascitycurrent.com/tickets.
Roster moves
The Kansas City Current added a little home-flair to the roster this week through a trade with Racing Louisville. In exchange for $150,000 in allocation funds, the Current received forward Cece Kizer and defender Addisyn Merrick. Both players are originally from the metro area, with Kizer hailing from Overland Park, Kansas, and Merrick from Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
Kizer was selected by Racing Louisville in the 2021 Expansion Draft. She scored the first goal in Louisville’s history in the team’s 2021 Challenge Cup debut April 10. She led the team in games started (22) and was second in goals scored (5) and minutes played (1,889). She comes to Kansas City with two assists in seven games played so far this season.
Drafted in the fourth round of the 2020 NWSL Draft by the North Carolina Courage, Merrick appeared in seven matches for the Courage in the 2020 Challenge Cup and Fall Series. Merrick was the first player selected by Racing Louisville in the 2020 Expansion Draft but missed much of the season due to an injury. Making a strong comeback, the young defender has started two matches for Racing Louisville in 2022.
Corner kicks pay off
Kansas City’s offensive showing against San Diego was thanks in large part to an emphasis on creating chances from corner kicks. The Current recorded 10 corner kicks against the Wave, the highest single-game total in all competitions for the team and turned many of them into threatening scoring opportunities.
The most significant opportunities resulted Kansas City’s two goals. In the 11th minute, midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta worked a give-and-go with fellow midfielder Victoria Pickett on a short corner kick, then LaBonta clipped in a ball from the endline that found the head of Hamilton. Her header found the side netting amid a sea of Wave defenders to open the scoring.
In the 63rd minute, Kansas City found success through a similar corner kick sequence. Defenders Hailie Mace and Alex Loera exchanged passes, with the latter sending the ball into the penalty box from the wing. The ball fell perfectly to Bennett, who slid in to score Kansas City’s second goal of the contest.
The Current enter Saturday’s match ranked third in the NWSL in total corner kicks with 40, so frequent corner kick opportunities could remain a significant part of Kansas City’s offensive attack throughout the regular season.
Kansas City faced Gotham twice in 2021, with both matches ending in 1-1 draws. The Current levelled the teams’ first meeting at Red Bull Arena on July 2, a match that began after a three-hour weather delay, with a spectacular goal in the 83rd minute. In the return fixture at Legends Field on Oct. 22, defender Kristen Edmonds recorded Kansas City’s lone goal via penalty kick in the 45th minute.
The match on Saturday night will feature some adoptable dogs available for fans to meet on Mazuma Plaza before kickoff. Funk Away is the match sponsor. The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City will provide the dogs. Fans are not permitted to bring their pets to this match.
The Current are also teaming up with FunkAway to sponsor an equipment drive ahead of Saturday’s game, with all proceeds benefiting Youth R.I.S.E. Kansas City. To participate, bring new or gently used soccer balls, cleats or indoor soccer balls to Children’s Mercy Park.
Players to watch
Kansas City Current forward Kristen Hamilton — Hamilton, Kansas City’s goalscoring leader in all competitions in 2022, notched her second goal of the regular season against San Diego. Her efforts are key in sparking the Current’s offense, as Kansas City’s highest-scoring outputs of the regular season have come in games that featured her finding the back of the net. Hamilton previously went on a torrid scoring run in the 2022 Challenge Cup with five total goals and will look to score in consecutive matches for the first time in the regular season on Saturday.
NJ/NY Gotham FC midfielder Kristie Mewis — Mewis is a critical piece of Gotham FC’s midfield, starting in all five of the team’s regular season games. So far in the regular season, Mewis has displayed her distribution ability with an assist, 13 key passes and six successful crosses. In addition, Mewis has one regular-season goal, scored in Gotham FC’s 3-0 win over Orlando on May 1. She is the sister of Kansas City Current midfielder Sam Mewis, and the two were members of the U.S. Women’s National Team’s bronze medal squad in the 2020 Tokyo Women’s Olympic Tournament last summer.
- Information from KC Current