NWSL Kansas City Current

Kansas City Current Faces Racing Louisville in Midweek UKG NWSL Challenge Cup Match

Published on May 16, 2023 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Kansas City Current News Release


KANSAS CITY - The Kansas City Current (1-0-0, 3pts.) hit the road for a midweek UKG NWSL Challenge Cup match against Racing Louisville (0-0-0, 0pts) at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. This will be the first of two matchups between these two sides, with both teams heading to Kansas City for a regular season battle on Saturday.

The Current sit atop the Central Division in the fourth edition of this annual tournament. The club opened up Cup play at Houston and earned a 2-0 victory on the road. Cece Kizer had one goal and another shot that bounced into the net off a Dash defender. The win set the Current up for a three-game winning streak across all competitions with wins over the Orlando Pride and NJ/NY Gotham FC following. Kansas City comes into this match looking to regain that momentum after dropping two straight regular season matches to Angel City and San Diego.

Louisville is one of the last teams to make their debut in the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup this season. The team is currently sitting in ninth position on the regular season table after finding the first win of the season last weekend against the Chicago Red Stars. Led by second year player Savannah DeMelo, taken with the fourth overall pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft, Louisville has only one win, but has drawn four times in seven games.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Kansas City Current defender Croix Soto - Soto joined the Current as a trialist in April. Undrafted in the 2023 NWSL Draft, she was given her chance to train with the club and earned a full contract. She made her debut in the 79th minute against the Chicago Red Stars on April 15 and then has started every match since then, helping the Current defense earn two clean sheets in four games. Her coaches and teammates praise her calmness and communication as she has faced some of the best attacking players in the world.

Racing Louisville midfielder Savannah DeMelo - DeMelo leads the club with two goals and an assist and was second on the team last season with four goals and two assists. A midfielder with great field vision and distribution, Louisville centers its attack around her. Although only in her second professional season, she has already become one of the team's leaders on the field.

TIGHT TURNAROUND

This is the second time this season that Kansas City will have a packed match week. Including Sunday's match against San Diego, the Current will play three games in seven days. In a quirk of the schedule, following Wednesday's UKG NWSL Challenge Cup match, these same two teams will travel the 500+miles west to play each other again, this time counting towards the regular season standings. With that quick of a turnaround, and in such a short timetable, both teams will be faced with important decisions surrounding player rotation and tactics. These teams are separated by three points in the Challenge Cup standings and only sit one point apart on the regular season table. There is no room for error in either match.

EXPANSION PARTNERS

The Kansas City Current and Racing Louisville both entered the NWSL in 2021 as expansion franchises. Louisville built their roster from a combination of player signings and the expansion draft. Kansas City inherited a roster from the former Utah Royals. While both teams had some successes in their first season, neither side were ever in the conversation for postseason play. In 2023, Kansas City revamped its roster and rode a 13-game unbeaten streak all the way to the NWSL Championship. Louisville did not make the postseason in 2023 but showed improvement throughout the season. Against each other, these teams have been evenly matched. Louisville holds a slight lead in the overall series and is the only team so far to capture a victory as the visitor.

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National Women's Soccer League Stories from May 16, 2023


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