FC Kansas City takes on NWSL’s most prolific offense Saturday

For FC Kansas City, not a lot has gone right over the past couple of weeks. And at least for the foreseeable future, the next stretch isn’t exactly a cake walk.

The Blues, 3-6-4, have lost two of their last three, the struggles culminating with a three-goal barrage from Washington last week in a 3-2 loss.

Immediately upcoming for FCKC is a 6 p.m. Saturday Central match at third-place Western New York, where the Blues will try to solve some of their set-piece woes.

All three of the Spirit’s goals were products of set-piece rebounds. A free kick and two corner kicks didn’t yield goals directly, but Washington kept the chances alive long enough to score.

“I don’t think we have a problem with the technical part of (set pieces),” FCKC coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “We didn’t get scored on on any set piece on the first ball; it was always the second ball. The second ball is mainly mentality. We spent a lot of time working on it, spent a lot of time analyzing, so hopefully we will be able to fix it.”

Unfortunately for FCKC, Western New York isn’t the ideal place to settle any defensive problems. The Flash is the surprise team of the NWSL, sitting at 8-4-1 and in prime position to maintain a playoff spot.

Stopping Western New York’s set-piece opportunities will only be half the battle. The team also has the league’s top two goal scorers in Lynn Williams (seven) and Jessica McDonald (six). McDonald has been one of the best players in the league in July, scoring four goals and adding four assists in the last four matches. This season, Western New York has 26 goals, seven more than anyone else in the league.

“They have some pace up front, so typically they look to get in behind,” FCKC goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart said. “They’re pretty opportunistic and they do the long throw, which is dangerous, more dangerous than regular set pieces. We’ve just got to be ready for those things.”

If FCKC can get out of Western New York unscathed, it will have one final match (at Chicago Red Stars, currently holding the fourth playoff spot) before the NWSL goes on a break for the Olympics.

This story was originally published July 22, 2016 at 4:59 PM with the headline "FC Kansas City takes on NWSL’s most prolific offense Saturday."