Category: KC Current

KC Current travel to Chicago tonight

The Kansas City Current (9-4-5, 32 points, 1st place) is set to play its second game in just four days when the club travels to play the Chicago Red Stars (7-5-6, 27 points, 6th place) at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14.

The match will be broadcast locally on KMCI, 38 the Spot and nationally on Paramount+.

The Current ascended to the top of the table after defeating NJ-NY Gotham 1-0 Sunday. After playing an even match through the first half, Kansas City started to put on the pressure in the second half. Late in the match, forward Claire Lavogez drove towards the goal, then was taken down inside the penalty box.

With NWSL leading penalty scorer Lo’eau LaBonta already subbed out of the match, defender Hailie Mace stepped to the spot in the 78th minute and slotted her shot into the left of the goal for the score, and the win.

The Red Stars were last in action on Sept. 9 at the OL Reign. In a back-and-forth affair, Chicago was able to salvage a point and remain in playoff position with a 2-2 draw.

After falling behind 1-0 in the 28th minute, and nearly allowing a second goal ten minutes later, forward Ella Stevens recovered a shot off the post and tied the score for the visitors. Chicago took the lead on a Danielle Colaprico penalty kick in the 67th minute, but it was unable to secure the win after Reign forward Rose Lavelle gathered the ball at midfield and sprinted towards goal and found the equalizer.

Top of the table

For the first time in club history, the Current sit in first place in the NWSL standings, an accomplishment that may seem hard to believe after the team’s opening season in 2021. With a turnaround of only a few months between the team being awarded to Kansas City and the first match, the club struggled through its debut season and finished in 10th place out of 10 teams.

The team’s turnaround this season has been nearly unprecedented. In 24 games last season, Kansas City earned 16 points and scored 14 goals. In 18 games this season, the club has already earned 32 points and the top three goal-scorers (LaBonta, Kristen Hamilton and Cece Kizer) have combined to score 18 goals and the team has scored 25 goals altogether.

Franch notes 40th shutout win

Sunday’s 1-0 victory was goalkeeper A.D. Franch’s 40th career shutout win. Picking up her first clean sheet with the Western New York Flash on June 8, 2013, Franch is only the second goalkeeper ever to reach 40.

The career shutout milestone is just another in a long history of success for the veteran goalkeeper. Franch already owns the record for most clean sheets in a regular season with 11 in 2017. She owns a career 1.04 goals against average and has over 10,000 minutes played in 117 regular season games.

Season ticket effort launched for stadium

The Kansas City Current officially launched season ticket deposits for the first stadium purpose-built for a women’s professional soccer team Tuesday morning. Fans can place a deposit and learn more at KCCurrentStadium.com.
Fans can reserve a seat at the stadium in 2024 is with a new stadium membership. A new stadium membership provides access to preseason, regular season and NWSL Challenge Cup matches played by KC Current at the new stadium (beginning in the 2024 NWSL season), as well as exclusive year-round member-only events and benefits that will be announced later. Deposits are open for seats in the supporter’s section, general reserve, club seating and premium suites, and are fully refundable.

Seat selection will be subject to availability.

Players to watch

Kansas City Current forward Hailie Mace — Mace’s hard work and consistent effort has brought her several accolades in the 2022 season, including her first appearance in USWNT camp since 2019. She scored her third goal of the season in the match against NJ-NY Gotham FC on Sunday off a penalty kick, after logging four total shots and two shots on goal.

Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Pugh – Pugh, a regular on the USWNT, has eight goals and five assists in through 11 appearances in league play for the Chicago Red Stars. Internationally, she has six goals and seven assists in her 12 USWNT appearances in 2022.

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Current moves into first place

The Kansas City Current (9-4-5, 32pts, 1st place) began a stretch of three matches in seven days on Sunday with a 1-0 road triumph over NJ-NY Gotham (4-14-0, 12pts, 12th place).

A 78th minute penalty kick from Current defender Hailie Mace was the difference as Kansas City extended its ongoing unbeaten streak to 13 matches. Forward Claire Lavogez won the foul that led to Mace’s spot kick.

Sunday proved to be a historic day for a variety of reasons for the Current. The win moved Kansas City into first place in the National Women’s Soccer League for the first time in club history, and goalkeeper A.D. Franch picked up the 40th shutout of her NWSL career. Franch is only the second player in NWSL history to reach that mark, which marked the fourth clean sheet that Franch has kept in the 2022 regular season.

“I couldn’t be prouder of (AD), especially in the manner of how she got the shutout this evening,” said head coach Matt Potter. “I thought she did, on a tough occasion, a tough evening, the simple things well and allowed us to have that tower of strength behind our group of field players. That just speaks to who she is and we’re very fortunate to have her as a part of our group.”

Kansas City nearly opened the scoring in the opening seconds of the match. Mace whipped in a dangerous cross to the back post that eventually fell to Current defender Kate Del Fava in front of goal. Del Fava was unable to steer the ball in as Gotham goalkeeper Michelle Betos did just enough to keep the ball out of the back of the net. Betos had to resort to similar goal-line heroics in the 25th minute following a dangerous cross from midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta that bounced around in the goal box.

Gotham generated plenty of early offense as well, testing Kansas City’s back line on multiple occasions. Gotham forward Taylor Smith sent multiple shots at Franch in the opening 45 minutes, but Franch was up to the task on each occasion. The Current closed a first half that featured eight shots from the visitors with a dangerous effort from Del Fava that sailed high in the 44th minute, but the sides entered the locker room deadlocked at 0-0.

The Current failed to score in the 58th minute due to more Gotham defensive efforts. Forward Kristen Hamilton slid a ball through to Lavogez in the penalty area, and the French international’s cross from the end line was arching over Betos and into the back of the net. However, Betos stretched to tip Lavogez’s effort away from the goal, followed by Gotham forward Paige Monaghan clearing the ball off the goal line to keep the match scoreless.

Kansas City finally broke through with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation. Lavogez raced through Gotham’s defense and was pulled down in the penalty area by Gotham defender Ellie Jean to win a penalty kick. With LaBonta, Kansas City’s regular penalty kick taker, out of the match, Mace stepped up to the spot and slotted the ball in the top left corner to give the Current the lead. Mace’s third goal of the 2022 regular season stood as the match winner, which capped a performance where she recorded four total shots and two shots on goal.

Franch made one more incredible save to preserve the Current’s 1-0 victory. In the 80th minute, Gotham midfielder Kristie Mewis fired a shot on goal from the top left corner of the penalty box. Franch stretched to tip the ball off the crossbar and Kansas City eventually cleared the ball away. She recorded three saves in the win as the Current saw out the one-goal victory.

The Current remain on the road next week for a mid-week matchup against the Chicago Red Stars at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14. Kansas City then returns to Children’s Mercy Park Sunday, Sept. 18, against the Portland Thorns.

Tickets are available for all home matches at Children’s Mercy Park. For pricing and information visit KansasCityCurrent.com.

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Current travels to East Coast today

The Kansas City Current will try to continue a 12-match unbeaten streak as the team is on the road against NJ-NY Gotham at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11.

The match will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network.

The Current (8-4-5, 29 pts, T-2nd place) extended its franchise-best unbeaten streak to 12 matches in the last match, with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the North Carolina Courage on Aug. 28.

Midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a penalty kick, but the Courage responded to take a 2-1 lead in the early stages of the second half. Then the Current completely took the match over.

Forward Cece Kizer scored her sixth game-tying or go-ahead goal for Kansas City in 2022 to level the match in the 56th minute on an assist from rookie defender Alex Loera.

Forward Kristen Hamilton completed the comeback in the 59th minute, sliding in to tap home a cross from defender Kate Del Fava. Kansas City’s ongoing 12-match unbeaten streak is tied for the second-longest streak in National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) history.

Gotham, meanwhile, took part in the lone NWSL match played last weekend. The team lost 1-0 at home to the North Carolina Courage on an 81st minute goal by Courage midfielder Fuka Nagano. The loss extended Gotham’s losing streak to eight matches.

Crucial September stretch begins Sunday

First up is Gotham, an opponent that the Current have historically found positive results against. Kansas City is 1-0-2 all-time against Gotham and most recently defeated it 1-0 at Children’s Mercy Park June 11.

From there, Kansas City travels to Chicago for a mid-week road match against the Chicago Red Stars. The Current beat Chicago twice during the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup, but the sides drew 2-2 June 18 in their lone regular season match so far. Proving how tight the top of the NWSL table is, the Red Stars sit in the sixth and final playoff position, but are only three points behind the Current.

The Current close the stretch of three matches in seven days at Children’s Mercy Park against the Portland Thorns next Sunday, Sept. 18, with playoff positioning and possibly one of the longest unbeaten streaks in league history on the line.

International roundup

The Kansas City Current was well-represented on the international stage during the recent September FIFA window, with four players being called up to their national teams. Hailie Mace (USA), Desiree Scott (Canada), Sydney Schneider (Jamaica) and Chloe Logarzo (Australia) were all named to their country’s rosters.

Defender Hailie Mace was called to the U.S. Women’s National Team for two friendlies against Nigeria, earning her first appearance in USWNT camp since 2019. The Kansas City defender appeared in both matches against the Super Falcons. The United States’ first match of the window came in Kansas City on Sept. 3, a 4-0 triumph at Children’s Mercy Park in which Mace entered the match as a second-half substitute. Mace also came on as a second-half substitute in the USWNT’s 2-1 win over Nigeria on Sept. 6 in Washington, D.C. Mace totaled 30 minutes played across both matches.

Veteran Canadian midfielder Desiree Scott appeared in both of Canada’s matches of the window, which were consecutive matches against Australia. Scott played the final 30 minutes of Canada’s 1-0 win over Australia on Sept. 2 and played the first half of Canada’s 2-1 win over Australia on Sept. 6.

Rounding out the Current players in action over the weekend was Jamaican goalkeeper Sydney Schneider, who started in Jamaica’s 1-0 loss to South Korea on Sept. 3. The appearance marked Schneider’s 19th international cap.

Three players named to ‘Best of August’

For the second consecutive month, the Kansas City Current had multiple players named to the Best XI of the Month. Goalkeeper A.D. Franch, defender Elizabeth Ball and LaBonta were named to the Best XI of the month.

All three have been integral pieces of the Current’s ongoing 12-match unbeaten streak, which included a 3-0-1 record in August. Wednesday’s announcement marked the first team of the month appearance for Ball, while LaBonta and Franch received back-to-back team of the month selections for the first time in their NWSL careers.

LaBonta scored three goals and recorded an assist, accomplishing some significant career milestones in the process. Her impressive offensive month brought her goal total on the season to six, which marks both a career high and team-high total.

LaBonta scored the 10th goal of her professional career against Angel City FC Aug. 19, and her five penalty kick goals in the 2022 regular season is one shy of a league record.

Ball has been a stalwart of Kansas City’s defense all season, and that was no different this past month. She played the full 90 minutes in all four matches in the month and totaled five tackles, 16 duels won and a team-best 22 clearances. She also has 18 blocks this season, which ranks second in the NWSL. Ball recorded the game-winning assist in Kansas City’s 4-3 win over the North Carolina Courage Aug. 13.

Franch rounded out the Current players honored after finishing the month with 1.66 goals against average. Franch had four saves in Kansas City’s 4-3 win over the Courage Aug. 13. The Current was the lone team with three players selected by the NWSL Media Association to the August Best XI of the Month.

Groundbreaking

This week the Kansas City Current announced a step toward the construction of its stadium at Berkley Riverfront Park in Kansas City, Missouri, the first stadium in the world purpose-built for a women’s professional sports team.

The official groundbreaking for the project will be at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6. Fans from across the region may attend as the ownership group of Angie Long, Chris Long and Brittany Mahomes welcomes dignitaries from across the region and the NWSL to take part in the festivities.

The event begins at 5 p.m. with remarks from ownership, the city of Kansas City, Missouri, Port KC and others in the community, followed by key contributors to the project participating in the traditional shovel ceremony. A celebration party will cap off the night.

Players to watch

Kansas City Current forward Kristen Hamilton — Hamilton has been on an offensive tear in 2022, with 11 goals in all competitions. Hamilton has six goals in the 2022 regular season, which is tied for both the team high and a club record. She scored twice in August, once each in the Current’s matches against the North Carolina Courage. Hamilton found the game-winning goal in the 84th minute when Kansas City and Gotham FC last met June 11.

NJ-NY Gotham FC midfielder Victoria Pickett — Pickett was traded to Gotham FC from the Kansas City Current Aug. 22. She made her debut for Gotham in the team’s 3-1 loss to Angel City FC Aug. 28, starting and playing 70 minutes in Gotham’s 1-0 loss to the North Carolina Courage on Sept. 4. Pickett nearly got on the scoresheet for her new club against the Courage, but North Carolina goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland denied her close-range header in the 58th minute.

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