KC Current reclaim first place in Central Division with late winner against Houston
Kansas City Current midfielder Victoria Pickett dropped the hammer on an 80th-minute winner as the home team beat the Houston Dash 2-1 Friday at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan.
The Challenge Cup victory catapulted the Current to first place in the NWSL’s Central Division, with 10 points earned from their first five matches of the year.
What’s more, the Current (3-1-1) have now, in just five games, equaled their win total from all of last season, when they finished 3-14-7 in their first year as a new club in the National Women’s Soccer League.
“There is no such thing as an ugly win,” Current coach Matt Potter said. “They’re all beautiful.”
He’s not wrong. The notion of an “ugly” win is just bad semantics, as all wins net three points in the standings, no matter how relatively unsightly some of them might be. This game wasn’t the best the Current have played in the Challenge Cup, but they fought hard for the result — and that pleased Potter.
“Today, we went about it in a different way than maybe we’ve done in the past,” he said. “But that’s the sign of a good team. We found the way today.”
The Current got off to a hot start, scoring in the third minute. After a routine corner-kick was cleared, Elizabeth Ball sent the ball back into the mix. It wound up with Izzy Rodriguez, who slammed a pass across the face of the goal. Kristen Hamilton was at the back post to head it home, collecting her third goal of the tournament.
Houston leveled in the 59th minute with a perfectly placed cross from Maria Sánchez to Liberty native and former FCKC player Shea Groom, who headed the ball past Current keeper Adrianna Franch.
KC began its search for a winner by bringing on four substitutes in hopes of changing the pace of the match. And sure enough, Victoria Pickett provided it in the 80th minute.
Much as they had on the first score, the Current kept alive a set-piece long enough for the play to cycle to a goal. The Dash failed to clear the ball on multiple attempts, one of which fell at the feet of Pickett. She promptly blasted on-target past Dash keeper Jane Campbell.
“I’m just happy we were able to get one in,” Pickett said. “It was mostly Char (teammate Chardonnay Curran) and the rest of the team being gritty and keeping it within their box. It was just fantastic, and I could do a little tap-in.”
Both goals derived from the Current’s ability to keep plays alive and pressure the opponent after the initial sequence of set pieces. That’s something Hamilton said the team has been working on.
“Set pieces is something the we pride ourselves on this season,” she said. “We’ve put a lot of detail into it, so for those to come to fruition and get goals from those set pieces is really encouraging for us.”
Next, the Current will play host to the Chicago Red Stars in their final match of the Challenge Cup group stage. That game, which will likely decide the group’s winner, is set for 4 p.m. Central Time on Sunday, April 24 at Children’s Mercy Park.
This story was originally published April 15, 2022 at 9:25 PM with the headline "KC Current reclaim first place in Central Division with late winner against Houston."