KC NWSL officially opens preseason with victory over Orlando Pride in Florida

Kansas City NWSL opened its official National Women’s Soccer League exhibition season with a 1-0 win at Orlando Wednesday.

Raisa Strom-Okimoto scored the game’s lone goal in the 59th minute, but the breakthrough had long seemed inevitable. KC held possession in the Pride’s end of the field for the first four minutes, and much of the first 30.

KC’s best scoring chance before halftime came when left back Maddie Nolf found forward Amy Rodriguez on a cross. Rodriguez had a one-touch shot to the near post, but the Orlando keeper was able to knock it away.

The game was scoreless at halftime, but Strom-Okimoto, a native of Hawaii, put KC NWSL on the board off a long cross from midfielder Gaby Vincent.

KC coach Huw Williams was pleased he was able to get playing time for so many of his players.

“We’ve been hitting it hard in preseason, and every single player has earned the right to be on that field,” he said. “So we pretty much got everybody around 45 minutes.”

KC NWSL will remain in Florida through Friday before returning to Kansas City to continue preseason training. The team will play three more preseason friendlies, all against college teams: KU, K-State and the University of Oklahoma.

The 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup starts April 9, and the regular season begins May 15. Ticket information can be found at KCWoso.com.

This story was originally published March 3, 2021 at 3:15 PM.