KC Current scores 3 goals, blanks Washington Spirit in Friday night home match
The Kansas City Current is back in the playoffs.
While this might have seemed like a bit of a formality, the team officially booked a spot in the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs on Friday with a 3-0 home victory over the Washington Spirit.
Nichelle Prince, Lo LaBonta and Temwa Chawinga scored for the Current in front of an 11th straight sellout crowd at CPKC Stadium.
This is the second time in four years that the Current franchise has qualified for the postseason. The win pushed KC’s league record to 12-3-6.
While he was certainly happy to see three goals, Current coach Vlatko Andonovski was more proud of the team’s defensive effort. The clean sheet makes it back-to-back games without a goal surrendered against two of this season’s top three goal-scoring teams in the NWSL.
“It’s not just not getting scored on, but not allowing any opportunity,” Andonovski said. “I can’t remember in the last two games that we allowed a clear-cut opportunity.”
The scoreline might indicate the Current dominated the match, but that wasn’t the case. Controlled is probably the better term.
The Current didn’t win the possession battle, and the only three shots KC put on target were the three goals. Yet the hosts remained unthreatened by Washington’s attacks.
The performance was more clinical than explosive, and for Andonovski, that was the type of result the team needed in preparation for what might come in the playoffs.
“This was something new for us, and it was a test for the team, for the team’s character…a tactical test, as well,” the coach said. “We don’t know what we’re going to face and what we’re going to need in the playoffs.”
The Current opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Prince looked to have gotten a deflection on a cross/shot taken by Michelle Cooper. Prince tapped the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
“I think we knew that this was going to be a tough game,” Prince said, “so we had to bring the intensity right off the bat and put them under pressure.
“I think we brought that (intensity) the first 10 minutes. We got a lot of opportunities and I think we put them on their back foot.”
The goal Friday was Prince’s first since arriving in KC via a January trade. She’s the 18th goal-scorer for the Current this season, extending the team’s league record with multiple matches still to come.
LaBonta added a sensational second goal for Kansas City in the 31st minute. She picked up the ball near the sideline, dribbled inside and then made a hip-feint cut to her left. From there, she used the Spirit’s back line as a visual screen and curl in her sixth goal of the year.
“What I saw was that nobody was stepping to me at all,” LaBonta said. “I think they’re worried about our fantastic front line … No one gave me any respect, and (they) didn’t step to me. So I was like, ‘I’m gonna shoot.’”
Chawinga’s goal, a tap-in finish on a counterattack in the 69th minute, was her 16th of the season — and it came on her birthday, no less.
The goal pushes Chawinga’s league-leading Golden Boot advantage to four. Chawinga is also just two goals shy now of the NWSL record for goals in a season: 18, a mark set by Sam Kerr of the Chicago Red Stars in 2019.
Washington’s Lena Silano picked up a red card in the 99th minute of Friday’s match for a dangerous and late challenge on Current goalkeeper Almuth Schult.
The Current have another home match next Saturday, Sept. 28, against NJ/NY Gotham FC.
Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.
This story was originally published September 20, 2024 at 9:11 PM.