NWSL Kansas City Current

Kansas City Current Set to Face Racing Louisville Under the Lights at CPKC Stadium

Published on May 17, 2024 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Kansas City Current News Release


KANSAS CITY - The Kansas City Current (6-0-3, 21 points, 1st place) look to keep the club's unbeaten streak alive as the team hosts Racing Louisville (1-2-5, 8 points, 11th place) at CPKC Stadium Saturday, May 18 at 8:30 p.m. CT. The match will air on ION and simulcast on KMCI, 38 The Spot with Maura Sheridan and Jordan Angeli on the call. Fans can also tune in to 90.9 The Bridge FM to hear Dave Borchardt and Jillian Carroll Letrinko call the action. The radio broadcast will also stream on the KC Current app, along with Spanish and Portuguese language broadcasts.

Kansas City comes into the match with a full week to prepare after playing three games in three different cities over the course of eight days the previous week. The last match was played at home against the North Carolina Courage. With limited rest and preparation, the Current were held scoreless in the first half for only the second time all season.

Coming out of the halftime break, the Current pressed forward to try and get on the scoreboard. In the 52nd minute the Current's relentless pursuit paid off. Forward Temwa Chawinga drove toward the goal from the left side. She sent a curling shot to the far post, but North Carolina's goalkeeper was just able to get her hand on it and deflect it across the goalmouth.

In the perfect place to pick up the rebound, Debinha jumped on the deflected shot and sent it home to the back of the net. Her first goal of the season gave Kansas City the 1-0 lead and marked the 12th different goal scorer for the Current this year. Debinha has scored against every active NWSL club except Bay FC.

Louisville hosted the Washington Spirit last week. The visitors got on the board early with a score in the sixth minute. A penalty kick in the 20th minute gave Louisville a chance to equalizer, but midfielder Savannah DeMelo's shot was saved and parried wide. Racing then suffered an own goal in the 34th minute to fall two-goals down. DeMelo was able to scratch one back late in first half stoppage time, but that was it for scoring in the match. Louisville outshot the Spirit 15-8 as they chased the game in the second half.

Kansas City and Louisville entered the NWSL as expansion clubs in the same season. While the Current have seen success in the Challenge Cup and an NWSL Championship appearance, Racing has yet to reach the Challenge Cup knockout round or NWSL playoffs. However, Louisville has found wins over Kansas City in the last two regular season matchups.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Kansas City midfielder Debinha - The Brazilian superstar found her way onto the scoresheet for the first time this season in Kansas City's win over North Carolina. After suffering an injury in the season opener, she missed the next several games. Slowly building up her minutes over the past three games paid off as she was in the right place Sunday to become Kansas City's 12th different goal scorer in 2024.

Racing Louisville forward Uchenna Kanu - A Namibian forward with a nose for goal, Kanu has scored a third of Louisville's goals this season (4). She has a strong aerial presence and has already notched one score off a headed in cross this season.

DEFENSE

While much of the talk at the beginning of the season revolved around the Current's scoring prowess, the team had given up eight goals in the first three games of the season, with several coming on set plays and corner kicks. Asked about it at the time, head coach Vlatko Andonovski was not too concerned, knowing the defense would settle in as the season progressed. Not only has the club settled in, but the defense has also become one of the team's strengths.

Led by second-year defender Gabrielle Robinson, the Current have only allowed eight shots on target and two goals over the past four games. In fact, the Current have not let a ball into their net in the last 199 minutes.

MILESTONES

Kansas City Current midfielder Lo'eau LaBonta surpassed 10,000 career minutes early in last week's match. She is the fourth player on the Kansas City roster to have surpassed that milestone and the 51st player in NWSL history to do it.

This week, head coach Vlatko Andonovski heads into the match with 74 career NWSL wins. His next victory will make him the fifth coach to reach that mark. Seattle's Laura Harvey is the only active NWSL coach with more wins. Andonovski has 167 career NWSL regular season games coached, should he earn his 75th victory in the next three matches, he will be the second-fastest coach to get to that mark.

Midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo, with five assists so far in the season, already owns the club record for single season assists. She is also two shy of tying the NWSL record for career assists with 29. Only Jess McDonald and Sophia Huerta are ahead of her at the moment.

Check out the Kansas City Current Statistics

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