KC Current drop second-half hammer on Seattle Reign at sun-splashed CPKC Stadium

Two mistakes kept the Kansas City Current from holding a halftime lead against Seattle Reign FC at CPKC Stadium. But that 2-2 halftime scoreline was a pretty good indication that fans were in for a high-scoring affair.

With Chiefs coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and the team’s entire rookie class — plus Royals stars Salvador Perez, Bobby Witt Jr., and Vinnie Pasquantino — in attendance on Sunday afternoon, the Current peppered the Reign with three second-half goals en route to a 5-2 National Women’s Soccer League victory.

Current coach Vlatko Andonovski said the topic of conversation at halftime was about approach, and what he called mindsets and mentality.

“We talked a lot about Kansas City and what it stands for,” Andonovski said. “I promise it was (rated) PG. It was all clean, but I promise it was not calm.”

Current forward Michelle Cooper said Andonovski didn’t really need to say anything.

“We knew it walking off that field (at halftime),” Cooper said. “Hearing it from all the coaches, it really gave us an extra push.”

Two of Kansas City’s second-half goals came in the first 90 seconds of the final stanza. Vanessa DiBernardo scored in the 46th minute and Temwa Chawinga added her second of the day in the 47th.

Lo LaBonta’s 67th-minute penalty kick rounded out the scoring.

“Tied two-two against a good Seattle team,” Cooper said, “we had to make a point in the first couple minutes that this wasn’t us, and we needed to put the game away. That’s exactly what we did.”

The Current remain unbeaten this season and have returned to the top of the NWSL standings, tied with the Orlando Pride at eight wins and four losses. KC holds the the goal-differential tiebreaker with a +14.

While Sunday afternoon’s second half was all Current, the Reign held the lead twice in the opening half thanks to a pair of goals by forward Jordyn Huitema. Twice she found space behind the Current back line and tapped in or headed the ball past KC goalkeeper A.D. Franch.

Those were the two aforementioned mistakes.

“The fact that we assisted on the second (Reign) goal was something that we can’t allow to happen,” Andonovski said. “As a group, we have to be more aggressive in those moments and make sure that nothing goes toward our goal when we have the first contact.”

To its credit, the Current responded within minutes both times. First, Chawinga scored after a nifty pass from Michelle Cooper. Then Lauren tapped in a loose ball in the box. The shot scooted past Seattle keeper Laurel Ivory to make it 2-2.

The Current’s quick-attack second half seemed to stun the Reign. Chawinga played a perfect cross to Vanessa DiBernardo for a 46th-minute goal. One minute later, Chawinga took a pass from Debinha behind the Reign’s back line and scored again.

The Current’s fifth goal came on a penalty kick after Ivory took down Michelle Cooper inside the box. LaBonta converted the PK for her third goal of the season.

The Current hung on through the remaining 20 minutes of match play and an additional 14-plus minutes of stoppage time. It’s the team’s third straight match in which second-half stoppage time extended for 10 minutes or more.

The Current has played less than six minutes of second-half stoppage time just once this year.

“I think that one thing we need to take into consideration is that now we’re going into July and August, and we’re gonna play in Houston, Orlando, North Carolina, even Kansas City,” Andonovski said. “Playing 100, 105 minutes is gonna be tough for the players.”

Andonovski said his team has just started planning, mentally, to play into a 100th minute or longer.

“That’s our threshold, the number we have in mind,” he said. “I’m glad the team actually took it very well, closed the game, and did not even allow any shots toward the end of the game.”

The Current will remain at home this coming weekend, welcoming the Chicago Red Stars to CPKC stadium on Friday night.

This story will be updated.

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.

This story was originally published June 9, 2024 at 7:15 PM.