Category: Kansas City NWSL

The U.S. Women’s National Team, winners of four FIFA World Cups and four Olympic Games, will travel to Kansas City, Kansas, to play Korea Republic at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Tickets for the match are on sale via Ticketmaster.com.

Adriana Franch of KC NWSL is one of two U.S. goalkeepers for the match.

Franch, from Salina, Kansas, is a World Cup champ from 2019, and an Olympic bronze medal winner from 2020. In August, she was traded from the Portland Thorns to KC NWSL.

USWNT Head coach Vlatko Andonovski is a Kansas City area resident and a graduate of Park University.

The U.S. has a winning 10-0-3 record against Korea Republic since 1997. The U.S. Women’s Team has faced 15 different opponents in 2021.

Midfielder Lindsey Horan will be honored before Thursday’s game for reaching 100 caps. A Colorado native, Horan reached her 100th cap July 24 against New Zealand in the Olympics, scoring her 23rd international goal.

Kansas City NWSL traveled to face the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday night in the team’s final road game of the 2021 regular season.

Chicago got on the board first off an own-goal in the 34th minute, however defender Hailie Mace quickly answered a few minutes later to equalize the game at 1-1. Chicago found the game winner in the second half and dropped Kansas City 2-1.

Mace said it felt great to finally get her first KC goal, stating, “Bowen served a perfect ball that I was able to get a head on and it’s just really exciting to get that first goal.”

Kansas City’s defense has been a strength the past few games, and it was tested again in the first few minutes of play. After Chicago had a shot ring off the post, Kansas City was able to clear it away from danger. Following that first attack, Kansas City was able to gain a 54 percent possession advantage in the first half and mostly keep Chicago’s attack at bay.

The lone exception was when Chicago broke through Kansas City’s tough defense in the 35th minute. Mallory Pugh sent a corner in for Chicago that found Davidson’s head and then took an unfortunate deflection off KC defender Kristen Edmonds’ head and into the back of the net to put Chicago up 1-0.

It didn’t take long for Kansas City to respond. Two minutes later, in the 37th minute, midfielder Katie Bowen sent a cross into Mace who used her head to flick on the ball to the back corner of the net to equalize the game.

Forward Kristen Hamilton nearly found the go-ahead goal for Kansas City a minute after Mace’s equalizer when she launched a shot from 30 yards out that just sailed over the top post.

The second half started with Kansas City attacking and Hamilton coming close to another goal on the back post following a cross in from forward Darian Jenkins. Kansas City had several opportunities throughout the night for Jenkins and Hamilton, although neither could find the net.

Chicago gained the lead in the 50th minute. Just past the midfield line, forward Mallory Pugh slotted a ball to forward Kealia Watt who then found forward Makenzy Doniak. Doniak slid into her shot and gave the Red Stars the 2-1 lead.

Kansas City returns home for its final two matches of the 2021 inaugural season. First is NJ-NY Gotham FC at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22, at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. They then wrap the regular season at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 30, against OL Reign at Legends Field. Both matches will stream nationally on Twitch. For tickets visit KCWoSo.com.

• Story from KC NWSL

Kansas City NWSL will take to the road as the team travels to face the Chicago Red Stars at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, at SeatGeek Stadium.

This is the third regular season meeting between these two teams and the second time in Chicago.

Saturday’s match is the third in a week for Kansas City.

After holding the NWSL leading Portland Thorns to a scoreless draw on Sunday, Kansas City unleashed its offense on Wednesday night against the Houston Dash with a dominant 3-0 win. Forward Darian Jenkins opened the scoring in the 18th minute of play when she blasted a shot from the corner of the penalty box that curled around Houston Goalkeeper Jane Campbell and into the far upper corner of the goal.

Later in the first half, it was Elizabeth Ball’s turn for glory when she put her head on the end of a perfect Katie Bowen restart and redirected the ball into the far bottom corner of the net to put Kansas City up 2-0 just before the halftime break.

Forward Jéssica Silva entered the game late as Kansas City looked to use her skills on the ball to hold possession. Silva took the ball to the corner flag several times and in added time found herself one on one with Campbell. As she passed the Houston goalkeeper, Campbell reached out and tripped her, drawing a penalty kick. Midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta stepped up to take the penalty kick and topped off the night and a huge victory for Kansas City to make the final score 3-0.

Kansas City had a stellar defensive night, only allowing two shots on goal and clearing the ball 32 times to keep the clean sheet. Goalkeeper Adrianna Franch earned her third clean sheet in six games with Kansas City.

Chicago’s last match was also Wednesday night as they took on the Orlando Pride. The Red Stars scored in the sixth minute of play on a goal by Forward Kealia Watt, and held on to the lead for 86 minutes (including stoppage time) after that. Chicago holds an overall record of 9-8-5 with 32 points and a three way tie for fourth place on the NWSL table.

Players to watch:

Kansas City Forward Darian Jenkins: Kansas City’s leading scorer scored a highlight-worthy goal that opened the scoring Wednesday night against Houston and led Kansas City to a 3-0 win. The goal was Jenkins’ third on the season in her team-leading 19 games played (15 starts).

Chicago Red Stars Defender Tierna Davidson: Davidson anchors the Chicago backline in the center-back position and is a part of 5 clean sheets on the season. She has played and started in 15 games for the Red Stars, totaling 1,305 minutes this year.

This match will be shown at 7 p.m. on KCTV5, with Aly Trost and Dave Borchardt. Nationally, the game will stream on Paramount+.

• Story from KC NWSL