New faces give KC NWSL a boost in first half but OL Reign prevails in Challenge Cup

Kansas City NWSL looked to make amends Monday night in its first-ever game at Legends Field, dubbed by the club and its fanbase as Home Opener 2.0.

Having lost its true inaugural home opener 3-1 to the Houston Dash at Children’s Mercy Park last week, KC was able to play its first game in its long-term home in Kansas City, Kansas against the OL Reign.

But a late goal from the Tacoma, Washington-based Reign resigned Kansas City to another home loss, this time by a score of 2-1.

Kansas City opened the scoring within six minutes through winger Mallory Weber, who was making her first appearance for the club since arriving in Kansas City. The Reign equalized just under half an hour later as Jessica Fishlock converted from the penalty spot.

Defender Celia Delgado headed home at the back post in the 84th minute to give the Reign a late but deserved second-half lead.

The loss means Kansas City finished at the bottom of Group B in the NWSL Challenge Cup, picking up just one point from four games.

“Preseason is over,” KC coach Huw Williams said, who said last week he sees the Challenge Cup as a preseason tournament.

“Today I think there was a couple of things today that changed the game for us,” he continued. “We’re disappointed today in the final result, but if we learn from those little things, it was good. The last four games have been beneficial for us.”

The game continued the trend of Kansas City looking better yet unable to pick up the result it wanted. This time around it was a pair of new faces who gave KC a first-half edge.

Weber and midfielder Chloe Logarzo both made their first starts for KC, and despite both only featuring in the first half, they gave a fresh look to the lineup.

Weber, who played for the Utah Royals for a season before being loaned out to Australia’s Adelaide United for a season, returned to Kansas City earlier this week.

The Michigan native was handed a start at the first possible opportunity by Williams and the decision immediately paid off.

Just six minutes into the game, Weber received the ball at the top of the box. With four Reign players standing between her and the goal, Weber cut back inside before firing a curling shot into the top right corner.

Weber was pulled from the game in the 29th minute as Williams looks to manage her minutes upon her return from Australia.

But even aside from her goal, Weber offered a lively option up top for Kansas City’s midfielders to play the ball to. Her runs offered the kind of space for forward Amy Rodriguez that she’s yet to have seen so far this season but Rodriguez was unable to fire home any of her opportunities.

The game offered Weber the chance to show what she’d learned in Australia as a winger. Although a natural winger, Weber’s previous stint in the NWSL with the Royals and Portland Thorns saw her used more as an outside wingback.

But having scored six goals in 20 games with Adelaide in 2020 she was given the chance to continue that form against the Reign.

“I prefer on the wing,” Weber said. “So if I can keep scoring goals and keep myself out of the backline that’s cool.”

Behind Weber was Australian Chloe Logarzo, who KC picked up in January from English team Bristol City.

Logarzo came off at halftime due to a dead leg but looked just as lively as Weber in the midfield. She showed a penchant for picking up the balls in dangerous positions and charging up the field before laying it off to the forwards.

“Very important player for us,” Williams said. “Both Chloe and Lo (LaBonta) will be our threats from midfield going forward and also on set pieces. Chloe is very effective on set-pieces, too.”

She created two good chances for Rodriguez in the second half — created by Weber’s runs — and also offered more freedom to fellow center midfielder Lo LaBonta. LaBonta being isolated was a problem in the first couple of games for KC and Logarzo seemed to have helped solve that issue without the need for KC’s wingers to tuck in too deep.

“I love playing with Chloe,” LaBonta said. “I’ve played against her in Australia a good amount of times when I was out there for a couple of years and I think her style of play is amazing.

“You don’t know what she’s going to do a lot of the time but I’ve trained enough with her in training and I play off her really well, I think we combine together.”

The pair leaving the field was one of the main reasons for Kansas City’s struggles in the second half.

KC put in a stellar first half, controlling possession and seeing the majority of the attack, and was only marred by a penalty given away by Jordyn Listro in the 34th minute.

But with Weber and Logarzo off the field for the second half, Kansas City seemed to lose its sense of control in midfield and edge going forward.

Following the equalizer, Kansas City also lowered their line of engagement with the Reign attack, sitting further back. It was a change that coincided with Logarzo leaving the field.

A much more dominant Reign jumped on KC in the second half, creating a slew of chances in front of the KC supporters section. They eventually broke through with six minutes remaining as Delgado headed home a corner to take a long-coming lead.

With the Challenge Cup coming to an end for Kansas City it will now look toward its first game of the regular season. KC travels to fellow expansion team and winless Racing Louisville on May 15 for a 4 p.m. kickoff.

This story was originally published May 3, 2021 at 9:35 PM with the headline "New faces give KC NWSL a boost in first half but OL Reign prevails in Challenge Cup."