FC Kansas City still winless this season after 1-0 loss to Boston Breakers

Boston midfielder Kristie Mewis sent an in-swinging corner kick toward the far post, and teammate Whitney Engen sprinted toward it. She leaned to get her head on the ball — just in time to redirect the pass into the back of the net.

The Breakers used the 19th-minute goal for a 1-0 victory over visiting FC Kansas City on Sunday.

Boston’s first goal in six matches this season provided the club with its first win. And it kept FC Kansas City without a victory.

“I don’t think we played well. I think that Boston stepped up and played more aggressively than us,” FC Kansas City coach Vlatko Andonovski said in a phone interview. “They stepped up with more energy and more urgency, and I think that was the key factor.”

FC Kansas City, the two-time defending champion of the National Women’s Soccer League, is the only team in the league without a win. The Blues dropped to 0-4-2.

They were shut out for the fourth time. They have scored only one goal, which came from the penalty dot, in the last four matches.

On Sunday, they put four shots on goal, but Boston goalkeeper Libby Stout corralled all of them. Some of FC Kansas City’s best chances moving toward goal were negated by 10 offside calls.

“I think it was a little bit of a lack of effort from us to stay onside,” Andonovski said. “When a wide player finds herself offsides, that needs to be fixed because that’s almost unacceptable at this level.”

FC Kansas City’s Katie Bowen made the first start of her NWSL career Sunday. Bowen, a member of the New Zealand women’s national team, was the 16th overall pick in the 2016 NWSL draft. She started on the back line.

The Blues played their first match in franchise history without Jen Buczkowski, who retired after last week’s match against the Chicago Red Stars.

This story was originally published May 22, 2016 at 7:44 PM with the headline "FC Kansas City still winless this season after 1-0 loss to Boston Breakers."