Darian Jenkins Scores First Goal in Kansas City's Loss

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Aug. 8, 2021) - Kansas City NWSL took to the road to face Racing Louisville in an expansion team showdown this afternoon. A hard-fought game saw a combined seven yellow cards given to both sides. Kansas City’s Darian Jenkins found the back of the net for her first goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1 going into halftime, but it was not enough to keep the game level for Kansas City as Louisville found two goals of their own in the second half from Nadia Nadim and Cheyna Matthews to prevail by a final score of 3-1.

Kansas City opened the first half with a great chance in the first five minutes from newly acquired forward Hailie Mace, who found herself on a breakaway after she collected an errant pass from Louisville's backline, but she could not get enough on the shot to get past goalkeeper Michelle Betos. Another chance from the other newly acquired forward Kristen Hamilton found herself in a two versus three situation with Mace against Louisville's defenders, but they were unable to get a shot off in the end. 

Lousiville’s first chance came in the 17th minute of action when Savannah McCaskill played a perfect through ball to Erin Simon, but Kansas City’s Kiki Pickett was there to save the day with a sliding tackle to knock the ball out of play. Pickett again saved a chance in the 25th minute when the ball was bouncing around that ended up on Emily Fox’s feet for a close chance, but Kansas City’s rookie defender again slid to block the pace of the shot and it slowly rolled into Kansas City’s Katelyn Rowland’s hands for the save.

In the closing minutes of the first half, McCaskill dribbled down the left flank to cross a slotted ball to Ebony Salmon in the box who tapped it home for Racing to put them up 1-0. It wasn’t long until Kansas City responded with one of their own in the last seconds of the first half. Off a set piece, Captain Rachel Corsie pushed the ball wide to Kiki Pickett. From there she sent a long crossed ball that bounced around in Louisville’s box where Mallory Weber was finally able to get off a shot. Betos was able to get a hand on the shot and push it wide, where it landed right on the foot of Jenkins, who was able to tap the ball in for the score. Jenkins’ goal tied the game at 1-1 going into halftime and was her first goal of the season. 

The second half saw a near identical goal for Louisville when McCaskill dribbled the right flank this time and slotted a ball to Nadim who redirected a header near the back post of the net and put Louisville back on top. Louisville topped it off with a goal by Matthews off an errant throw from Kansas City, where Matthews stole the ball and dribbled around Rowland to make the final score 3-1.

Kansas City will now shift its focus as the team returns home on Saturday, Aug. 14, hosting OL Reign at 7 p.m. CT. The contest will be at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas and will air locally on KSMO-TV and stream nationally on Paramount+.

NWSL Match Report

Match: Racing Lousiville vs Kansas City NWSL

Date: August 8, 2021

Venue: Lynn Family Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky

Kickoff: 2:07 p.m. CT, 3:07 p.m. ET

Weather: 90 degrees, sunny

Discipline

21’ LOU – Nadim (Yellow)

35’ LOU – Fox (Yellow)

38’ LOU – McCaskill (Yellow)

45’+1 KC – K. Pickett (Yellow)

63’ KC – LaBonta (Yellow)

82’ KC – Silva (Yellow)

90’ LOU – Matthews (Yellow)

Scoring

43’ LOU – Salmon (McCaskill)

45’+9 KC – Jenkins
55’ LOU – Nadim (McCaskill)

86’ LOU - Matthews

Scoring Summary

Lineups: 

Racing Louisville: Betos©, Bonner, Riehl, Simon, Fox (69’ Ashley), McCaskill, Olofsson, Nagasato, Kizer (89’ Millet), Nadim (89’ McClure), Salmon (69’ Matthews)

Substitutes Not Used: Lund, Martin, Otto, Ekic, Miramontez

Kansas City: Rowland, Corsie©, Edmonds, Weber (76’ Bowen), Pickett, K., Vincent (63’ Listro), LaBonta (76’ McCain), Pickett, V., Hamilton, Mace (60’ Silva), Jenkins (76’ Larroquette)

Substitutes Not Used: Smith, Del Fava, Vasconcelos, Ball

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Aug. 8, 2021) - Kansas City NWSL took to the road to face Racing Louisville in an expansion team showdown this afternoon. A hard-fought game saw a combined seven yellow cards given to both sides. Kansas City’s Darian Jenkins found the back of the net for her first goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1 going into halftime, but it was not enough to keep the game level for Kansas City as Louisville found two goals of their own in the second half from Nadia Nadim and Cheyna Matthews to prevail by a final score of 3-1.

Kansas City opened the first half with a great chance in the first five minutes from newly acquired forward Hailie Mace, who found herself on a breakaway after she collected an errant pass from Louisville's backline, but she could not get enough on the shot to get past goalkeeper Michelle Betos. Another chance from the other newly acquired forward Kristen Hamilton found herself in a two versus three situation with Mace against Louisville's defenders, but they were unable to get a shot off in the end. 

Lousiville’s first chance came in the 17th minute of action when Savannah McCaskill played a perfect through ball to Erin Simon, but Kansas City’s Kiki Pickett was there to save the day with a sliding tackle to knock the ball out of play. Pickett again saved a chance in the 25th minute when the ball was bouncing around that ended up on Emily Fox’s feet for a close chance, but Kansas City’s rookie defender again slid to block the pace of the shot and it slowly rolled into Kansas City’s Katelyn Rowland’s hands for the save.

In the closing minutes of the first half, McCaskill dribbled down the left flank to cross a slotted ball to Ebony Salmon in the box who tapped it home for Racing to put them up 1-0. It wasn’t long until Kansas City responded with one of their own in the last seconds of the first half. Off a set piece, Captain Rachel Corsie pushed the ball wide to Kiki Pickett. From there she sent a long crossed ball that bounced around in Louisville’s box where Mallory Weber was finally able to get off a shot. Betos was able to get a hand on the shot and push it wide, where it landed right on the foot of Jenkins, who was able to tap the ball in for the score. Jenkins’ goal tied the game at 1-1 going into halftime and was her first goal of the season. 

The second half saw a near identical goal for Louisville when McCaskill dribbled the right flank this time and slotted a ball to Nadim who redirected a header near the back post of the net and put Louisville back on top. Louisville topped it off with a goal by Matthews off an errant throw from Kansas City, where Matthews stole the ball and dribbled around Rowland to make the final score 3-1.

Kansas City will now shift its focus as the team returns home on Saturday, Aug. 14, hosting OL Reign at 7 p.m. CT. The contest will be at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas and will air locally on KSMO-TV and stream nationally on Paramount+.

NWSL Match Report

Match: Racing Lousiville vs Kansas City NWSL

Date: August 8, 2021

Venue: Lynn Family Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky

Kickoff: 2:07 p.m. CT, 3:07 p.m. ET

Weather: 90 degrees, sunny

Discipline

21’ LOU – Nadim (Yellow)

35’ LOU – Fox (Yellow)

38’ LOU – McCaskill (Yellow)

45’+1 KC – K. Pickett (Yellow)

63’ KC – LaBonta (Yellow)

82’ KC – Silva (Yellow)

90’ LOU – Matthews (Yellow)

Scoring

43’ LOU – Salmon (McCaskill)

45’+9 KC – Jenkins
55’ LOU – Nadim (McCaskill)

86’ LOU - Matthews

Scoring Summary

Lineups: 

Racing Louisville: Betos©, Bonner, Riehl, Simon, Fox (69’ Ashley), McCaskill, Olofsson, Nagasato, Kizer (89’ Millet), Nadim (89’ McClure), Salmon (69’ Matthews)

Substitutes Not Used: Lund, Martin, Otto, Ekic, Miramontez

Kansas City: Rowland, Corsie©, Edmonds, Weber (76’ Bowen), Pickett, K., Vincent (63’ Listro), LaBonta (76’ McCain), Pickett, V., Hamilton, Mace (60’ Silva), Jenkins (76’ Larroquette)

Substitutes Not Used: Smith, Del Fava, Vasconcelos, Ball