Kansas City Current get this boost for must-win home soccer match vs. Angel City Friday
What do you get when you have two teams separated by just a few points, desperate to launch themselves into the playoff picture from the edge of contention?
You get a must-win match for both sides. And that’s exactly what Friday night’s matchup between the Kansas City Current and Angel City is all about.
The Current are 6-1-10 and occupy 11th place in the National Women’s Soccer League standings. Angel City, 5-6-6, sit ninth.
Five matches remain in the regular season, and the playoff line is at 24 points. Coming out of the World Cup break, the Current were in a position where not winning a game or two would make their margin razor-thin.
That margin is gone entirely now, having disappeared in Kansas City’s 1-1 draw at Houston last Saturday. The outcome didn’t altogether eliminate the Current, but leaving points on the table was a blow.
Yet the Current seem to be embracing this atmosphere of must-win stakes.
“Pressure is a privilege,” interim head coach Caroline Sjoblom said ahead of Friday’s 7 p.m. match against Angel City at Children’s Mercy Park. “This game is very important for the hunt for the playoff spots. Everyone is well aware.”
Angel City boast a strong roster. They, too, got off to a rough start to the season. But they’ve turned things around after making a coaching change. While the Current are 7-2-3 since June, Angel City are unbeaten in their last nine.
Increasing the drama for Friday’s match, the way the Current want to play collides with how Angel City wants to play.
During their nine-game unbeaten streak, Angel City haven’t played to be dominant in possession. They’ve waited out their opponents, hoping to catch them on the counter with their speedy playmakers up top. In their most recent win, they only took five shots and had 40% possession and still beat OL Reign.
The Current want to have the ball and play through the midfield. And that’s where Angel City figure to lay their traps and pressing triggers, trying to turn the Current over and hit them fast on the counter.
“We know they have a good mid-block defending when they keep the team narrow,” Sjoblom said. “That is something that we will need to open up to make them run.”
KC Current getting Claire Lavogez back?
The Current have filled a few spots on their season-ending injury list for most of the season.
Claire Lavogez will be activated for Friday night’s match against Angel City, bringing that list down to two.
While KC had yet to put out an injury report for the match as of Thursday night, a source confirmed to The Star that the French playmaker Lavogez would be activated before the game time. The club made a minor trade with the San Diego Wave to give the Current the international roster spot required in order to activate Lavogez.
Lavogez tore her ACL during the Current’s 2-1 playoff victory over the Houston Dash last October. She has a knack for creativity and flair and is clinical in front of goal — just the type of player the Current have needed for a late-attacking spark.
“She has shown her old self the past few weeks,” Sjoblom said of Lavogez’s recovery efforts. “She’s very comfortable on the ball and has a world-class shooting technique.