FC Kansas City searching for first victory in five matches

The only way to get over a strange and befuddling goal like FC Kansas City surrendered in last week’s draw against the Portland Thorns FC is to get back to practice and work even harder.

That is exactly what the Blues did this week on artificial turf which reached temperatures in the mid 120s during practice.

In the game against Portland, the Blues held a one-goal and one-player advantage in stoppage time, but Portland goalkeeper Michelle Betos headed in a corner kick with 10 seconds left on the clock that tied the score 1-1. A victory would have been FC Kansas City’s first since May 8, but instead FCKC’s winless streak was pushed to four games.

“We know what happened in Portland, but that was something that I don’t want to let change the perception of our team or who we are,” FC Kansas City coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “We still played 95 minutes of good soccer in front of 15,000 people in Portland, dominated the game, did a good job and unfortunately what happened, happened.”

The Blues will get a chance to reverse the trend Saturday night when they face the Seattle Reign FC at 9:30 p.m. It is the second game between the two teams since FC Kansas City topped Seattle in the National Women’s Soccer League championship game last season. The Blues won the first meeting this year 1-0 on April 23 with a goal from Amy Rodriguez, who scored both goals in the championship as well.

Rodriguez and four other teammates — Becky Sauerbrunn, Lauren Holiday, Heather O’Reilly and Katrina Gorry — will not be on hand because they are in Canada playing in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Seattle will be without Hope Solo and Megan Rapinoe.

Seattle is coming off a 3-2 victory against the Boston Breakers and is currently ranked second in the NWSL with a 4-2-2 record. FC Kansas City is sixth with a 2-3-2 record and has scored the second fewest goals this season with seven. The Blues have allowed a league-low eight goals, but the defense will be tested by Seattle which enters with a league-best 17 goals in eight games.

This story was originally published June 26, 2015 at 4:47 PM with the headline "FC Kansas City searching for first victory in five matches."