Five different Kansas City Current players score in 2024 preseason opening win

The 2024 exhibition season opened for the Kansas City Current with a 5-0 victory against Florida State University. Five different players scored in the first preseason friendly as the team is at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

“It was a good game, good test for us,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “We played a very good opponent that presented different challenges, and I was happy with the way the team solved some of those challenges. I was also very happy with the mindset and the intensity and how the team approached the game.”

Playing three 30-minute periods, the Current opened with a starting lineup featuring three players new to the team this year. 2024 second-round draft pick Ellie Wheeler started at right back while fellow rookie Claire Hutton began in the midfield alongside veterans Lo’eau LaBonta and Vanessa DiBernardo and new international forward Temwa Chawinga started on the top line.

Despite constant pressure from Kansas City, the Current were unable to get a shot through traffic until the 20th minute of the match. That’s when DiBernardo sent an arching corner kick over everyone to where defender Gabrielle Robinson was waiting on the backside. Collecting the ball with her right foot, then shooting with her left, Robinson opened the day’s scoring.

In the second 30-minute period, Kansas City continued to control possession across the field. In a sequence that saw nearly every player on the field touch the ball at least once, the Current worked the ball across the field where forward Kristen Hamilton was open on the left side. Drawing the opposition to her, she laid an easy pass to the middle. Finding herself wide open, DiBernardo collected the pass, then took two touches towards the goal. As she approached the top of the penalty box, she found her opening and placed a shot to the back of the goal past the diving goalkeeper.

Midway through the second period, Andonovski changed up the lineup, inserting Stine Ballisager Pedersen, Regan Steigleder and Izzy Rodriguez into the backline for Wheeler, Hailie Mace and Elizabeth Ball. Midfielder Bayley Feist saw her first action, coming in for DiBernardo. Forward Alexa Spaanstra also entered the match, replacing Hamilton.

In the final 30-minute segment LaBonta and Temwa Chawinga each scored to bring the Current’s lead to 4-0 before the 75th minute. Following Chawinga’s score, both players were able to sub out. That’s also when forward Alex Pfeiffer entered the match, fresh off helping the U.S. Women’s U-17 team win the Concacaf W U-17 Championship.

Forward Michelle Cooper played nearly the whole match, pressuring the defense and finding open teammates with pinpoint accuracy everywhere on the field. Her strong play paid off in the 80th minute. A long pass forced the FSU goalkeeper to come way out of the box. Cooper beat the keeper to the pass and then lofted a shot over everyone to the back of the goal, solidifying a 5-0 victory for Kansas City.

“It’s just one box in the preseason that we needed to check off,” concluded Andonovski. “It was good, collective teamwork and you know, we're just happy with how they performed. Now, we did that and we're moving on to the next one.”

NWSL Exhibition Match Report
Match: Kansas City Current vs Florida State University 
Date: February 18, 2023
Venue: IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida
Kickoff: 12:30p.m. CT / 1:30 p.m. ET
Weather: 59 degrees, rain 

Kansas City Current Scoring
20’ Robinson (DiBernardo)
36’ DiBernardo (Hamilton)
63’ LaBonta (DiBernardo)
73’ Chawinga
80’ Cooper (Long)

Scoring Summary

Kansas City Current Lineups:
Franch (Hisey 65’), Wheeler (Stiegleder 45’), Ball (Ballisager 45’), Robinson (Wheeler 65’), Mace 45’), LaBonta (Hutton 75’), Hutton (Feist 65’), DiBernardo (Long 65'), Cooper (Pfeiffer 65’), Hamilton (Spaanstra 45’), Chawinga (Cooper 75’)