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KC Current beats Red Stars, advances in Challenge Cup

Forward Kristen Hamilton scored the game-winning goal on a cross from Elyse Bennett near the goal line. The Current’s 2-1 win over Chicago advanced the team to the Challenge Cup semi-finals. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

The Kansas City Current secured a place in the Challenge Cup semifinals with Sunday afternoon’s 2-1 win over the Chicago Red Stars at Children’s Mercy Park.

Kristen Hamilton scored the game winner in the 76th minute by knocking in a cross from Elyse Bennett from close range. The goal was Hamilton’s fourth in the six tournament games and earned Bennett her fourth assist.

The two teams traded goals early in the second half to set the stage for the go-ahead goal. Kansas City struck first in the 50th minute, starting with Desiree Scott intercepting a Chicago pass near midfield.

Scott passed to Elyse Bennett 18 yards out on the left side, and Bennett played the ball back to rookie Alex Loera running up the middle. Loera connected with the pass from 25 yards out, and her first touch launched the ball into the upper right corner of the net, well out of reach of Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.

After the match, Loera talked about her decision to take the shot from such a range. “She just laid off a perfect one-touch pass,” said the rookie defender.

“I was like I mean I’m right here, no one’s on me. I’m just going to shoot it. And I don’t know, I think I kind of blacked out because I don’t really remember it.”

Before the celebration had died down, Chicago got its equalizer, with Bianca St. Georges scoring off a cross from Ella Stevens.

Reserve goalkeeper Cassie Miller started and kept the Current even in the match with a 60th minute save, and Kristen Edmonds also kept the Red Stars off the board by heading away a corner kick at the goal line in the 70th minute.

After the match, head coach Matt Potter praised the contributions rookies Bennett and Loera have made in the absence of veteran players Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams.

“They’ve certainly proven on this stage that they belong,” Potter said. “We still believe their best days are ahead of them, but they’re certainly making an impact and doing the job they need to do while other players are working their way back.”

Kansas City’s Challenge Cup division-leading finish gives the team the opportunity to play host to the semifinal match against the North Carolina Courage on May 4, but first the Current will play the regular season opener on the road against the Portland Thorns on April 30.

Defender Alex Loera put the Current ahead 1-0 with her shot about 25 yards out from the Chicago goal. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Forward Elyse Bennett slipped the ball past midfielder Danielle Colaprico to earn an assist on Kristen Hamilton’s 76th minute goal. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Chicago defender Kayla Sharples upended forward Kristen Hamilton. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Midfielder Desiree Scott passed the ball to Elyse Bennett near the Chicago 18-yard box. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Forward Elyse Bennett muscled Chicago defender Danielle Colaprico off the ball. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Forward Kate Del Fava and Chicago defender Zoe Morse raced for the ball. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Chicago defender Arin Wright made a late challenge on midfielder Victoria Pickett. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Chicago defender Tatumn Milazzo made a sliding tackle on midfielder Victoria Pickett. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Forward Kristen Hamilton got to the ball ahead of Chicago defender Danielle Colaprico to put a shot on goal. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Midfielder Mallory Weber crossed the ball from the right side. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

KC NWSL reveal new team name, wrap up season with 3-0 loss

After the team’s 3-0 loss to the OL Reign, team captain Rachel Corsie kept warm with her new Kansas City Current scarf. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

Kansas City’s NWSL team dropped the final game of their inaugural season 3-0 to Portland’s OL Reign, but the game seemed like merely an afterthought to the hype surrounding the announcement of the team’s new name, the Kansas City Current.

A halftime light show set the stage for the announcment, revealed simultaneously on the Legends Field video board, on signs around the field, and on the team’s website and social media.

The Current players took the field in the second half wearing the team’s new crest: a vertical KC, crossed by a sweeping river shape, and adorned by two stars representing championships won by Kansas City FC.

Back to the game, the Current had trouble fighting out of their own end during the first half hour, ceding repeated corner kicks to the Reign. Kansas City’s defense didn’t give up a goal in that stretch, but lost captain Rachel Corsie to an injury in the 23rd minute.

Kansas City’s best opportunity came in the 34th minute, when Lo’eau LaBonta unleashed a shot from just outside the penalty area that passed inches outside the goalpost.

In the 35th minute, the pressure got to Kansas City, which conceded an own goal, a redirection on a Reign shot from distance.

No longer able to play for a tie, Kansas City pushed higher on their offense with five minutes remaining in the half. The change in tactics created sustained pressure, but no goals, and the halftime score was 1-0.

OL Reign didn’t take long to double its lead in the second half. In the 48th minute, Megan Rapinoe sent a corner kick that bounced to the back post where it was knocked in by Eugenie Le Sommer.

The Rapinoe-Le Sommer connection worked again in the 64th minute, this time with a cross into the box that Le Sommer headed home for a 3-0 advantage.

With a sizeable advantage in the late stages of the game, the Reign used all five available substitutions to protect key players as they tune up for the coming NWSL playoffs.

The loss snapped Kansas City’s streak of seven home games without a loss, and the expansion squad’s final record stands at 3 wins, 7 draws, and 14 losses.

The Current has announced the team will play the 2022 season at Children’s Mercy Park. The team’s ambitious plans include a training facility to be built in Riverside, Missouri, and a dedicated $70 million, 11,000 seat stadium to be built on the riverfront in Kansas City, Missouri, in time for the 2024 season.

Sportcaster Aly Trost emceed the ceremony to reveal the new team name and crest. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

The new KC Current crest decorated home plate at Legends Field. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Defender Elizabeth Ball made a sliding challenge to Reign forward Sam Hiatt. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

The ball rolled dangerously close to the goal as Elizabeth Ball and the KC defense warded it off. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Reign forward Eugenie Le Sommer launched a shot over her head on the KC goal. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Kate Del Fava defended against OL Reign forward Sam Hiatt. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

USWNT teammates Megan Rapinoe and Adrianna Franch met on the field. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Reign forward Eugenie Le Sommer headed the ball on goal. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta made a sliding tackle on Reign midfielder Rose Lavelle. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Reign forward Megan Rapinoe launched a shot just wide of the KC goal. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Defender Elizabeth Ball knocked away a shot near the penalty spot. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Midfielder Desiree Scott cleared the ball from the KC 18-yard box. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Forward Kristen Hamilton struggled with defender Lauren Barnes near the Reign goal. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Forward Kristen Hamilton raced toward the Reign goal. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Reign goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi put herself in harm’s way to block a shot by midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

USWNT controls but can’t break through against South Korea, 0-0

South Korea defender Lim Seon-joo slid in to disrupt forward Alex Morgan’s shot on goal in the U.S. women’s national team’s 0-0 draw against South Korea. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

The pent-up, explosive energy in the massed fans at sold-out Children’s Mercy Park needed just one goal from the U.S. women’s national soccer team to set it off. The goal never came, but the excitement hummed on throughout the fast-paced, scoreless draw against the the South Korea women’s national team.

The U.S. had plenty of chances throughout the match, taking 19 shots and getting eight of them on frame, forcing South Korea goalkeeper Yoon Young-geul to save shot after shot to preserve the shutout.

The U.S. got good opportunities early on crosses from Megan Rapinoe on the left side to Alex Morgan in the middle.

The best chance in the first half came from Morgan in the 20th minute. She took a pass from Tobin Heath and dribbled past a defender to go one-on-one against Yoon, but the goalkeeper closed down the space and covered the shot.

A cross from Rapinoe in the 30th minute led to a flurry of three shots in front of the South Korea goal, but Yoon knocked away the first attempt, and two others were blocked before Korea cleared the ball.

Goalkeeper Adrianna Franch, also the goalkeeper for Kansas City’s NWSL squad, was not under heavy fire, but made a diving save to stave off a South Korea shot in the 35th minute.

At the half, U.S. head coach and Kansas City resident Vlatko Andonovski subbed off Rapinoe and two others to get more of his team into the action. Kristie Mewis and Sophia Smith came into the match and continued the offensive intensity from the whistle.

The second half’s best chance came in the 50th minute, when Mewis blasted a shot that narrowly cleared the crossbar.

In the 63rd minute, U.S. team icon Carli Lloyd entered the game, earning a thunderous round of applause. Lloyd recently announced her retirement from competitive soccer at the end of the month, making this her penultimate match.

In the final minutes, the U.S. women crossed the ball repeatedly into the center, trying to connect with Lloyd for a game-winner. The connections were narrowly missed or were cleared away by the Korea defenders, and the match ended with a draw.

This was a “friendly” between the two squads, that is, the result doesn’t count toward the World Cup or other international competitions. The two sides will meet up again on Oct. 26 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The match also showcased Kansas City for officials from FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, which is evaluating potential sites for the 2026 World Cup. The prospective World Cup match would take place in Arrowhead Stadium, and the event would make extensive use of Children’s Mercy Park and the Pinnacle training facility in Kansas City, Kansas.