Kansas City NWSL Faces NJ/NY Gotham FC in Second to Last Match of Inaugural Season

KANSAS CITY (Oct. 21, 2021) – Kansas City NWSL looks to improve on the team’s recent undefeated home streak as it faces off against NJ/NY Gotham on Friday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. CT. Since defeating OL Reign 1-0 on Aug. 14, Kansas City has taken three wins and three draws at Legends Field. 

This is only the second meeting between these two teams this season. On July 2, the two sides battled to a draw after a nearly three and a half hour weather delay. Down 1-0 in the final minutes, Forward Mariana Larroquette intercepted a Gotham pass and scored the equalizer on a long chip shot over the goalkeeper’s outstretched arms. 

Kansas City comes into this match after the team’s last road trip of the season against the Chicago Red Stars last Saturday at SeatGeek Stadium, capping off its third game in seven days. The Red Stars took a first half lead off a Kansas City own-goal, but the visitors struck back in the 37th minute when Katie Bowen placed a driven cross onto defender Hailie Mace’s head. 

Despite leading the game in shots (12-10) and possession (53%-44%), Chicago was able to find the back of the net with a 50th minute score from Makenzy Doniak and able to hang on the remainder of the match and win 2-1.

Gotham is coming off a road trip as well, battling the North Carolina Courage on Sunday, Oct. 17. Neither the Courage nor Gotham could find the back of the net in the first half, but once the second half came around, it was all Gotham. The team saw goals from Margaret Purce (54’, 64’) and Carli Lloyd (67’) to hand North Carolina a 3-0 loss at home. 

VICTORY TOUR FOR MEDALISTS IN CANADA AND THE U.S.

Kansas City Midfielders Victoria Pickett and Desiree Scott will play for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Gold Medalists (Canada) in their international friendlies for October. 

Goalkeeper Adrianna Franch will remain in the United States and play for the U.S. Women’s National Team in two matches in Kansas City and Minnesota. 

FOUR ADDITIONAL KANSAS CITY PLAYERS CALLED UP INTERNATIONALLY

Kansas City NWSL players Mariana Larroquette (Argentina), Jessica Silva (Portugal), Katie Bowen (New Zealand), and Rachel Corsie (Scotland) have been chosen by their respective countries to play in international friendlies in upcoming October matches. 

THREE PLAYERS SIGNED AS INTERNATIONAL REPLACEMENTS

Kansas City NWSL signed Tristian Stuteville (GK), Abby Small (Defender) and Courtney Claassen (Midfielder) as National Team Replacement players. All three will be available for selection in Friday’s match. 

Stuteville, a Kansas City native, is a Ball State alum where she was the all-time winningest goalkeeper in Ball State women’s soccer history with 37 wins. She played in 55 games for a total of 3,294 minutes in her career. 

Abby Small is another Kansas City native who played for the University of Missouri-Kansas City women’s soccer team. Small appeared in 62 matches (61 starts) for the Roos notching seven goals and two assists in her career as a defender. 

Claasen is a Parkville, Missouri native who played for the Nebraska Cornhuskers women’s soccer team.  She played a total of 72 games making 42 starts while notching two goals and three assists for her career.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Kansas City: Defender Kiki Pickett - The Kansas City rookie has brought the defensive spark for the team ever since she stepped foot on the pitch. Pickett has appeared in 14 games (11 starts) for 1,064 minutes and has been a part of five clean sheets for the Kansas City backline. 

NJ/NY Gotham: Forward Ifeoma Onomanu - Onamanu has played in all 21 games this year for Gotham (18 starts). She has been an offensive powerhouse with seven goals and four assists, which leads the league with 25 points. 

HOW TO WATCH

Tickets are available for Friday night’s match at kansascitycurrent.com. For those unable to make it, the match will stream worldwide on Twitch.