The Kansas City Current team travels to southern California for its first test against expansion Angel City FC at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 21.
Remaining on the road for the second of three away matches in May, the Current will face the new expansion team, which is third in the National Women’s Soccer League, with a 2-1 record. The match will stream exclusively on Twitch.
The Current are 0-2 on the season, with one draw, and are in 11th place.
Kansas City earned its first point of the season against the Orlando Pride last week with a 2-2 draw. The team fell behind early in the second half before scoring two goals to take the lead.
Rookie forward Elyse Bennett scored her first professional goal in the 78th minute and then provided an assist to Kristen Hamilton on her goal one minute into added time as the Current took a 2-1 lead. However, a penalty called in the fifth minute of added time allowed the Pride to equalize and split the points.
Angel City earned a 1-0 win against the Washington Spirit last week. Forward Christen Press scored the only goal of the match in the 42nd minute of action. Both teams had several chances, but Angel City was able to hold off the Spirit and preserve the win.
Recognition
The Current’s efforts last week were noticed across the league. Elyse Bennett, who played the final 28 minutes of the match, tallied a goal and an assist and earned a nomination for the NWSL Player of the Week. She was previously nominated and won the award during the Challenge Cup.
Goalkeeper A.D. Franch also earned league-recognition this week as she was nominated for the NWSL Save of the Week. Late in the match, as the Current was holding on to the lead, Pride forward Kylie Strom found a small shooting lane at the top of the penalty area and launched a shot towards the net. A leaping save from Franch denied the goal and sent the ball over the cross bar. This is her second nomination in 2022, after being nominated once already in the Challenge Cup.
Expansion
This match features two of the four expansion teams from the past two seasons. Kansas City built its expansion team in less than 200 days for its 2021 start while Angel City had over a year to prepare for its 2022 debut.
Both sides struggled through their initial Challenge Cup tournaments, but Kansas City improved greatly with this year’s tournament, going from the bottom of the table to the top of the Central Division and a berth in the tournament semi-finals.
COVID concerns
Head coach Matt Potter did not travel with the team due to a positive COVID test. Assistant coach Lloyd Yaxley will direct the team on the pitch Saturday. In addition, four players will sit out the match due to COVID protocols. Per a new rule announced by the NWSL on May 13, the team will be signing replacement players to the roster for the match.
Players to watch
Kansas City Current defender Jenna Winebrenner – Winebrenner is a member of the Current’s impressive rookie class for 2022. Selected in the fourth round of the 2022 NWSL Draft, Winebrenner has played in every match of the Challenge Cup and regular season this year, starting all but one. She led all rookies with 30 clearances in the Challenge Cup.
Angel City forward Christen Press – A member of the U.S. Women’s National Team, Christen Press is the focal point for Angel City. She leads the team with three goals scored across all competitions and provided the game-winning score against the Washington Spirit last week.
- Information from KC Current