Match Preview: Kansas City Current hosts the Washington Spirit for Heart Health Awareness night, presented by Saint Luke’s Health Systems

After a midweek victory in the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup, the Kansas City Current (3-8-0, 9pts) return to regular season play Sunday against the Washington Spirit (5-1-5, 20pts) with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.  The match will be broadcast on Paramount+ with Kate Scott and Tony Meola on the call. Fans can listen to an audio stream of the match on KC Current Radio with Dave Borchardt and Jillian Carroll Letrinko bringing all the action through the KC Current app. 

Kansas City is playing its third match of the week with a regular season match in Seattle Saturday, then a Challenge Cup match Wednesday at home against the Chicago Red Stars. Izzy Rodriguez scored her second goal of the season against OL Reign Saturday, but it was too late as the Current fell 2-1 on the road. Returning home Wednesday, Kansas City’s offense exploded, scoring four goals in just under 16 minutes of the second half. Midfielder Debinha scored a brace and added to her record for most career Challenge Cup goals on the way to Kansas City’s 4-0 victory.

Washington is also playing its third game of the week Sunday. Forwards Ashley Hatch and Ashley Sanchez each found the net early in the first half on the way to a 2-1 regular season victory over Angel City at home June 10. Then, in Challenge Cup play, the Spirit returned home Wednesday to take on the North Carolina Courage. Tara McKeown put the home side up 1-0 in the 54th minute before the Courage’s Brittany Ratcliffe equalized only eight minutes later. As the time ticked down and the game looked to be a draw, North Carolina’s Olivia Wingate jumped on a cross-goal pass from Haley Hopkins and tapped in the game-winning score two minutes into stoppage time. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kansas City Current midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo – DiBernardo suffered a preseason injury that kept her out of the lineup for the first two games of the season and limited her minutes through the next two games after that. Since then, she has been a mainstay in Kansas City’s midfield and served as a field general directing traffic in the Current’s buildup from the defense through the attack. The nine-year veteran scored her first goal for Kansas City Wednesday, with a screamer from the top of the penalty box that was in the back net before Chicago’s goalkeeper even had time to react. 

Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman – At 19 years old, Rodman was the second overall draft pick in 2021. Selected by Washington to lead their offensive attack, Rodman scored six goals and added six assists during her rookie season. She added another goal and an assist in the playoffs as she helped the Spirit win the 2021 NWSL Championship. She followed that up with a season that saw her score four goals and make 17 appearances for the US. Women’s National Team.

DEBINHA SEND OFF
With the World Cup coming this summer, it is expected that Kansas City midfielder Debinha will be called to represent Brazil in the tournament. Sunday’s match will be the last chance for fans to see her at home before the tournament begins. Signed as a free agent this offseason, Debinha leads the Current with four goals in the regular season and three more in the Challenge Cup. She has become a leader on the team for more than her scoring though, as players and coaches alike have touted her work ethic and ability to work through tough situations. Brazil has many talented players, many who play in the NWSL, but the team’s hopes through the tournament will run through Debinha.

COMMUNITY CHAMPION
The Kansas City Current will honor KC Black Archives as the Community Champion of the Match, a non-profit organization that serves the community as an educational resource as well as an archive center of every aspect of African American culture. The Black Archives collect, preserve and make available to the public materials documenting the social, economic, political and cultural histories of persons of African American descent in the central United States, with particular emphasis in the Kansas City, Missouri region.

HOMETOWN HERO
Sunday’s Hometown Hero, presented by Midwest Ford, is Sam Bundren. In September of 2022, Sam suffered sudden cardiac arrest while playing in one of his high school soccer games at Lee’s Summit High School. Sam’s goalie, coaches and trainer conducted CPR and deployed an AED. Sam was transferred to the ER and after testing, discovered to have a myocardial bridge that would require open heart surgery. Just days later, Sam had open heart surgery at Saint Luke’s. At his 6-week post-operation appointment, Sam was completely cleared to return to playing soccer. After a full winter and spring season with his club team, Sam signed with Westminster College to play collegiate soccer this fall. Sam’s life was saved by the quick action of CPR and AED. To raise heart health awareness, Sam and his family have created SB14 Kicking Cardiac Arrest, which works to provide inexpensive heart screenings to the Lee’s Summit area.