Category: Sports

Current prepares for semifinal match Sunday in Seattle

Following a thrilling first-round victory in the quarterfinal round of the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs, the No. 5 Kansas City Current finds itself just one match away from the NWSL Championship.

Up next for the Current is a road tilt against No. 1 OL Reign at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, at Lumen Field in Seattle. The match will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network and locally on ESPN Kansas City 1510 AM, 94.5 FM.

In its first-ever playoff appearance, the Current advanced to the semifinal round on a 2-1 victory over the Houston Dash Sunday. A goal from defender Kate Del Fava in the 100th minute proved decisive as the club picked up its first playoff victory in franchise history.

Midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a penalty kick after forward Kristen Hamilton drew a foul in the penalty area. The Dash promptly responded in the 21st minute with a left-footed strike from midfielder Sophie Schmidt to tie the match at 1-1.

Neither side could quite break the deadlock from there, and Current goalkeeper A.D. Franch made multiple crucial saves when Houston generated scoring opportunities.

Then, late in second-half stoppage time, the Current won the ball in the Dash’s attacking third after defender Alex Loera picked off a Houston clearance attempt. She combined with LaBonta for a give-and-go on the left side of the penalty area, then Loera slid a pass to a waiting Del Fava right in front of goal. Del Fava directed the ball to the far corner of the net, giving Kansas City a historic win, while also recording her first career NWSL goal in the process.

OL Reign was idle last weekend after receiving a first-round bye. Head coach Laura Harvey’s squad earned a bye and the No. 1 seed in the NWSL Playoffs after closing the season on a seven-match unbeaten streak in league play.

OL Reign enters the postseason on a three-match winning streak in which the team shut out all three of its opponents. OL Reign hasn’t allowed a goal since the first half of its 2-1 victory over the North Carolina Courage on Sept. 17.

Goalkeepers important in upcoming match

Sunday’s high-stakes clash could ultimately come down to the squad with the soundest defense and goalkeeping, as both regular-season matches between the Current and Reign ended with each side recording a 1-0 victory.

Goals could be at a premium given the caliber of both Franch and OL Reign goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who are both nominated for the 2022 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year award. Franch recorded 70 saves in the regular season to Tullis-Joyce’s 65, but Tullis-Joyce finished the regular season with nine shutouts, which tied for a league-best mark.

As Tullis-Joyce’s shutout numbers would indicate, OL Reign possesses an incredibly stingy defense. The Reign’s 19 goals allowed are the fewest in the NWSL, and the team has allowed multiple goals on just six occasions.

However, Kansas City enters Sunday’s match in a similarly good run of defensive form. The Current has denied its opponents from scoring multiple goals in five of its last six matches, including two shutout wins.

In addition, the Current are comfortable generating scoring opportunities against OL Reign’s defense. The last regular season matchup between the two sides, a 1-0 Current victory at Children’s Mercy Park July 17, featured 36 combined shots and nine total shots on target. Kansas City finished the match with 17 total shots and five shots on target.

Milestones reached in Houston

Aside from Del Fava recording the first goal of her professional career and the Current recording its first-ever playoff victory Sunday, the team achieved several other notable milestones.

Del Fava’s goal in the 100th minute of action marked the latest regulation time goal ever scored in NWSL history, which includes the regular season, Challenge Cup and postseason. The goal handed Kansas City the victory in its playoff debut, and the Current became the first team to win its playoff debut since the Seattle Reign did so in 2014. Kansas City head coach Matt Potter became the first head coach to win an NWSL playoff game in his first NWSL season since 2013.

Additionally, Sunday’s victory over Houston continued a notable trend for the Current this season. LaBonta scored her 10th goal for Kansas City in all competitions with her penalty kick against the Dash, and the team has not lost a match in which LaBonta has scored (9 wins, 1 draw). In fact, LaBonta scored the lone goal in Kansas City’s win over OL Reign in July.

Road warriors

Another record-breaking crowd could await Kansas City for the second consecutive weekend, as OL Reign is making a push to break the NWSL record for the largest playoff crowd in league history. Houston originally snapped the record Sunday with 21,284 fans in attendance, though that mark was snapped by the San Diego Wave Sunday night.

Regardless, Kansas City has been a solid squad on the road in 2022. During the team’s 13-match unbeaten streak, the Current racked up a five-match road winning streak, which tied for the longest road winning streak in NWSL history. The Current went 5-5-1 in regular season road matches and enter Sunday’s semifinal having already won a highly contested match in front of a record crowd.

For information about Sunday’s watch party in Kansas City, Missouri, visit https://www.kansascitycurrent.com/news/kc-live-block-at-power-light-to-host-official-ol-reign-vs-kc.

Players to watch

Kansas City Current midfielder Desiree Scott — Kansas City will receive a massive boost in the midfield Sunday, as the team will welcome back team captain and Canadian international Desiree Scott. Scott served a one-match suspension last weekend after getting sent off in the Current’s regular season finale Oct. 1. Scott’s steady presence in the middle of the park cannot be understated. Her 34 tackles won are a team high and the ninth-best mark in the NWSL. The veteran midfielder leads the team with an 80.6% passing accuracy.

OL Reign forward Bethany Balcer — Balcer finished the regular season tied for the team lead in goals with seven and enters the postseason in a run of good form. She scored goals in each of OL Reign’s last two regular season matches, including the game-winning goal in Reign’s 2-0 victory over the Houston Dash on Sept. 24. Balcer also scored the game-winning goal in the 80th minute when Kansas City and OL Reign first met in Seattle May 25 and has three career goals versus Kansas City.

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KCKCC announces Athletics Hall of Fame nominees

by Tyler Scott, KCKCC sports information director

The Kansas City Kansas Community College Athletics Department has announced the 2022 Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony will be Saturday, Nov. 12.

This year’s inductees include Steve Bushnell, a former Blue Devils baseball player from 1986 to 1988, as well as the 2012 KCKCC volleyball team.

The ceremony to recognize inductees will take place between the men’s and women’s basketball games on Nov. 12, as part of the annual KCKCC Classic. The women’s game begins at 4 p.m. and the men’s game will begin soon after.

Also being honored will be the 2022 KCKCC softball team members, who will receive their District B Championship rings.

Bushnell attended Sumner High School and played for the Blue Devils as a pitcher and shortstop. He also earned the KCKCC Baseball Mike Haen Hustle Award in 1988 before transferring to Emporia State University in 1989.
“I certainly consider this to be one of the biggest honors I’ve received in life,” Bushnell said. “To be a youngster that grew up playing baseball in Wyandotte County and having attended high school at Sumner Academy. I followed Blue Devil baseball and the tremendous success and program that Coach Burleson had assembled in the 1980s and I wanted to be a part of that baseball tradition.

“I would not have had the opportunities as a player and the success as a high school coach if not for my experiences as a player in the KCKCC baseball program that I learned from playing for Coach Burleson. To be a kid that coach took a chance on and provided me the instruction, knowledge, discipline and an understanding of how to prepare and compete while playing the game of baseball helped set a foundation for how to win in the game life.”

After playing for the Hornets, Bushnell went on to head the baseball team at Seaman High School in Topeka, Kansas. In his 21 seasons as head coach, he has helped the team to 18 Kansas state playoff appearances, nine state championships and four runner-up finishes. In 2019 he entered the Emporia State University Hall of Fame and was recently inducted into the 2022 KABC (Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches) class.

“To be recognized as an inductee in the Blue Devil HOF is probably not deserving of my baseball skill because I’ve seen and followed so many for those former KCKCC greats that deserve this same recognition. I am truly humbled and honored, as is my family, for this amazing recognition from the KCKCC Blue Devil Hall of Fame.”

The 2012 KCKCC volleyball team had one of the most memorable seasons in program history. Finishing with the best record ever thus far at 32-8, the Blue Devils finished ranked sixth in the nation in the NJCAA Poll.

“We had the best group of athletes who were all about competition and striving to be the best,” head volleyball coach Mary Bruno-Ballou said. “They wanted to win and go to Nationals. Our team worded well together because they wanted each other to succeed. They wanted to be the first KCKCC team in history to go to the National Tournament and they were.”


Three of the squad’s best players also hail from the area in Lisa Angello, Jennie Kinsella and Kenya Alexander.


“I had just started playing volleyball and for me to join that team and we break so many records in that timeframe, it was most memorable thing,” Alexander said. “Honestly, that’s a blessing to finish sixth in the nation. I honestly never thought I’d be on the team that would be Top 10 in the nation at that point.
In the record books, Angello has the most services aces in program history and is third in kills. Kinsella has the second most total assists and Alexander holds records for career-high total blocks, single-season total blocks and single-game total blocks.

“It is probably my favorite memory of playing in college,” Kinsella said. “I think a little into the season we knew there was something very different about our team. Playing with that group of girls and Mary was very influential for us and that whole year was very life-changing.”

Alexander said she had a goal in mind to play overseas and playing at KCKCC helped her achieve that goal.

“Mary was the person that made me realize I wanted to play overseas volleyball,” Alexander said. “For her to help me accomplish that goal, is a blessing in itself. I still hold that near and dear to my heart.”

For more information on the KCKCC Athletics Hall of Fame, visit http://bluedevils.kckcc.edu/hof/index.

Current win 2-1 over Houston in playoffs

The Kansas City Current earned a historic victory Sunday evening, advancing to the semifinal round of the 2022 National Women’s Soccer League playoffs after defeating the Houston Dash 2-1.

Defender Kate Del Fava slotted home the winning goal in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time to hand the Current its first-ever playoff victory.

“First and foremost, we will enjoy this one. It’s another historic moment for the group and for the club,” head coach Matt Potter said. “It will be about celebrating this one and then we will start the process of moving toward Seattle at the weekend. Right now, the focus is that these players deserve to enjoy this moment.”

Kansas City quieted the 21,284 fans in attendance at PNC Stadium, the largest playoff crowd in league history, with a penalty kick goal from midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta in the fifth minute.

Rookie defender Alex Loera, who started in place of suspended midfielder Desiree Scott in midfield, created the opportunity with an inch-perfect through ball to forward Kristen Hamilton. Hamilton was pulled down from behind in the penalty area by Dash defender Katie Naughton, which allowed LaBonta to open the scoring from the spot.

However, LaBonta’s penalty kick was the Current’s lone shot in the opening 45 minutes. Houston’s offense began peppering Kansas City’s net after the Current took a 1-0 lead, and eventually leveled the match in the 21st minute. On a Dash corner kick, the ball fell to midfielder Marissa Viggiano at the back post. She struck the ball on the half-volley and fizzed it past Current goalkeeper A.D. Franch to level the contest.

The sides went into halftime with the score knotted at 1-1, but not before Franch made a fantastic stop in the 41st minute. Following another Dash set piece, Viggiano volleyed a ball at goal from outside the penalty area, but Franch dove to knock the ball away.

Franch was called upon to make multiple key saves in Sunday’s match, particularly in the second half.

Houston recorded 15 shots in the second half alone. Franch made two key stops in the 53rd and 59th minute, and the Dash struck the post in the 55th minute as well. Kansas City broke up Houston’s dangerous spell of play with a chance of its own in the 66th minute, when second-half substitute Elyse Bennett had a one-on-one opportunity with Houston goalkeeper Jane Campbell denied.

The match transitioned into an end-to-end affair as the contest wore on, and defender Kristen Edmonds made two key interventions to keep Houston off the scoresheet in one-on-one situations. Edmonds’ clutch defending helped keep the match level heading into nine minutes of second-half stoppage time, where chances began flying thick and fast for both sides.

Forward Cece Kizer nearly slotted a ball home at the back post in the 90+3 minute, then Houston immediately raced down the field and generated a threatening scoring opportunity. Houston forward Michelle Alozie broke free from Kansas City’s defense and had a one-on-one opportunity with Franch, but Franch stood tall to deny the chance. The Current’s defense held strong and withstood multiple Houston set pieces before snatching victory in the final seconds.

After forcing a Houston turnover in the attacking third, LaBonta and Loera combined for a brilliant give-and-go that freed Loera down the left flank. Loera slid the ball across the face of goal and past Campbell, and Del Fava was waiting at the back post to tap the ball home in the 90+10 minute. Del Fava’s goal marked the latest game-winning goal in regulation in NWSL history and allowed Kansas City to secure the 2-1 victory. It also marked the first goal of Del Fava’s NWSL career.

With the historic victory, Kansas City will next face OL Reign in the NWSL Semifinals. The Current’s next playoff match will be held Sunday, Oct. 23, and kick off at 6:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Kansas City and OL Reign met twice in the regular season, with each side picking up a 1-0 win.

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