Riding 3-game win streak, KC Current continue turnaround with much-improved offense
The Kansas City Current extended their unbeaten streak to seven games on Sunday with a 1-0 win over the OL Reign. The club’s five wins and two draws are the most points and wins over a seven-game period in franchise history, and of any NWSL team this season.
But the Current certainly aren’t focused on the streak.
“To be perfectly honest, (the streak) hasn’t come up,” KC coach Matt Potter said. “I certainly didn’t know. I’m sure if you asked the players, you might have a different answer, but for me, it’s about what lies ahead.”
When reporters asked Current midfielders Lo’eau LaBonta and Victoria Pickett about the streak, they chuckled.
“Everybody is coming up and saying, ‘Seven-game unbeaten streak,’ and it’s so funny to us because that is such a media question,” LaBonta said. “For us as players, we’ve never, ever said that as a group. To each other, it’s always one game at a time.”
On May 25, the Current fell to 0-4-1 with a 1-0 loss to the Reign, as a depleted, COVID-stricken roster missed four players, including LaBonta, along with their head coach. Two months later, the team has completely flipped the script.
“The reality is they walked away disappointed from that weekend, that road trip,” Potter said. “But today, we knew we would look a little bit different and be a little bit different.”
The Current improved to 5-4-3 heading into the halfway point of the NWSL season following Sunday’s win.
“Proud is an understatement,” goalkeeper AD Franch said. “It felt rocky, but we stayed committed to our journey and here are the results of the journey.”
Franch and the Current defense weren’t the issue in the slow start: the team has allowed more than two goals only twice this season. But performances like Franch’s eight-save day against the Reign in May weren’t enough for the Current’s offense, which had only scored twice in the first five games to start the season.
Getting LaBonta, defender Hailie Mace and others back from the league’s health and safety protocols certainly hasn’t hurt. Ditto for the additions of forward Cece Kizer and defender Addisyn Merrick from Racing Louisville FC.
When LaBonta returned after the May loss to the Reign, she scored the game’s lone goal on a penalty kick early. But the offense sputtered after that, posting a season-low a 63% passing-completion rate.
After LaBonta scored Sunday’s lone goal on a penalty kick drawn by Pickett, this time, the Current stayed aggressive, creating chance after chance after a hydration break in the first period. The 74% passing-completion rate understated the Current’s chances: Kansas City created 2.0 expected goals despite never putting the ball in the back of the net again.
“I think the change was that we just need to step it up, we can’t be comfortable being a goal ahead,” LaBonta said.
Potter praised the team’s cohesiveness after the game. Pickett said the players are getting more comfortable learning their roles within the structure of the coach’s system. And it’s showing on the pitch as the Current head into an off-week before returning to Children’s Mercy Park on July 31.
Kansas City has scored nine games in its past six games after scoring four in the first six.
“We’ve got forward momentum,” Potter said. “So for me personally as a coach, I’m like, ‘Agh, bad timing.’”
LaBonta was especially animated after the win in the postgame huddle. She said the coaches always tell the team that the last day of training each week is always the hardest.
“He says, ‘Earn your off-day,’” LaBonta said. “So I just said to the group, ‘I think we earned this off-week.’”
This story was originally published July 17, 2022 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Riding 3-game win streak, KC Current continue turnaround with much-improved offense."