KC NWSL, Portland show unity during Sunday’s game. Then KC extends home unbeaten streak
Players from both teams brought Sunday afternoon’s KC NWSL-vs.-Portland Thorns women’s soccer match to a temporary halt in a display of unity at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kan.
The players gathered at midfield with the clock running in the sixth minute, arms on each other’s shoulders, to keep attention on a scandal that erupted when sexual coercion allegations were leveled against a former longtime coach.
Play resumed afterward, as it did following similar displays elsewhere around the league last week. Sunday’s game was KC NWSL’s first since the allegations — which led to the resignation of league commissioner Lisa Baird and multiple independent investigations — surfaced about a week and a half ago.
“It’s got to be better across the board,” Kansas City goalkeeper A.D. Franch said. “We’re not fighting for what we have, we’re fighting for what we deserve. That’s the piece that’s key.”
The game ended in a scoreless tie, so KC NWSL earned just a point with the outcome, but it was one of the team’s most impressive performances yet.
It didn’t hurt that Portland’s Christine Sinclair, the all-time leading goal-scorer in international soccer, missed a penalty kick in the 85th minute.
The tie extends Kansas City’s undefeated run at home to five games.
“Proud of every single player out there,” KC NWSL coach Huw Williams said. “Just the determination, the guts, the grit that we had to battle a very strong team.”
Neither team managed to gain a foothold for longer than a couple of minutes in a cagey first half while the second showcased end-to-end soccer with plenty of chances.
The first-year Kansas City club’s ability to hang with one of the best teams in the league illustrated progress made since its recent inception. KC NWSL is mired at the bottom of the league standings and won’t make the playoffs, while the Thorns are in first place.
On paper, it was a game that Portland should have won comfortably. The Thorns had already beaten KC three times this year. But Kansas City held fast for the full 90 minutes.
And if it wasn’t for a questionably disallowed goal, KC might’ve claimed a win and all three points. In the 36th minute, Kristen Hamilton beat Portland centerbacks Emily Menges and Becky Sauerbrunn, the former FC Kansas City star, to a bouncing ball on the edge of the box.
Hamilton fired a shot off the inside of the post and into the net. But as the KC fans roared in delight, Hamilton seemed to know the goal would be pulled back. Head referee Alyssa Nichols immediately blew her whistle, indicating that Hamilton had fouled Sauerbrunn in the leadup to the goal.
The Thorns tried to turn the screws throughout the second half, playing a more expansive game that helped create chances on both ends of the field. KC goalkeeper AD Franch made a key save in the 75th minute, diving down low to parry out a close-range header from Morgan Weaver.
“We were on the back foot in the second half for most of it but it was what we had to do,” Williams said. “They went more direct than they usually do in the second half, especially after substitutions.”
Franch faced 13, including two that required big saves from the goalkeeper that Kansas City acquired from Portland in August.
Less than 10 minutes later, it looked like Weaver would undo all of KC’s hard work. The 23-year-old forward broke free in KC’s box and was brought down from behind by Hailie Mace, drawing a penalty.
But with 5,400-plus fans screaming as she ran up to the ball, Sinclair smacked her shot off the left post.
“I think we both just kind of stepped up and it was what it was, right?” Franch said. “Definitely when it comes to PKs, you’ve seen a player take multiple PKs and (it) can go different ways, have strengths, whatever. And then it’s a mind game there. Just really depends on who wins that battle during that time.”
This story was originally published October 10, 2021 at 5:59 PM with the headline "KC NWSL, Portland show unity during Sunday’s game. Then KC extends home unbeaten streak."