Match Preview: Kansas City Current looks to break attendance records and extend unbeaten streak in crucial matchup against Angel City FC

In a match that could mark the highest-attended NWSL soccer match in the history of Kansas City, the Kansas City Current (7-4-4, 25pts, T-2nd place) host Angel City (6-5-3, 21pts, 7th place) Friday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. CT. Friday night’s pivotal game will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network. 

Kansas City brings a 10-match unbeaten streak into Friday’s match after picking up yet another road win Saturday against the North Carolina Courage. The Current had to rally from a one-goal deficit on three separate occasions, but forward Claire Lavogez's first NWSL assist equalized the score, then her first goal helped put the team over the top in the 4-3 win.

Lavogez first tapped a ball in the penalty box that forward Cece Kizer slid in for the game-tying goal in the 60th minute, then she gave Kansas City the lead for good with a brilliant strike from distance in the 79th minute. 

Angel City, meanwhile, kept its playoff hopes alive with a 1-0 home win over the Chicago Red Stars August 14. Angel City limited Chicago to just nine shots in the contest, while Savannah McCaskill nodded in the game’s lone goal in the 48th minute. Angel City enters Friday’s match just two points behind sixth-place Chicago and three points behind fifth-place OL Reign. 

A PERFECT TEN
The Current’s 10-match unbeaten streak hasn’t just catapulted the team right into the mix of the NWSL playoff race, it also has placed the squad firmly in the NWSL history books.

With Kansas City’s win Saturday, it became just the sixth team in NWSL history to go on a double-digit unbeaten streak. The Current have some ways to go to match the league’s longest unbeaten streak, set in 2014 by OL Reign (16 matches unbeaten), but the second and third-longest unbeaten streaks in NWSL history are 12 and 11 matches, respectively. 

Excluding the Current and the Portland Thorns, who are on an active 11-match unbeaten streak, every team in NWSL history that has gone on an unbeaten streak of 10 games or more has made the NWSL Playoffs. Two of those teams, the 2018 North Carolina Courage and the 2014 OL Reign, made an appearance in the NWSL Championship. 

While there is still plenty of soccer left to be played in the 2022 regular season, history favors the Current as they continue to push for a playoff spot. 

GOALS, GOALS, GOALS
On June 18, Current forward Kristen Hamilton secured a franchise record for goals in a season with a first-half goal against the Chicago Red Stars. While she stood alone at the time atop the team and franchise goal scoring charts, another Current attacker quickly matched Hamilton’s total.

That attacker would be Kizer, who notched her fifth goal of the 2022 regular season in Saturday’s victory. All her goals this season have come during the club’s unbeaten streak after making her Current debut June 11. Kizer has also shown a propensity for scoring in clutch situations, as each of Kizer's five goals have been either game-tying or go-ahead finishes. Kizer and Hamilton enter Friday’s match tied for the team lead in goals after Hamilton also scored in the win over North Carolina. 

Right behind Kizer and Hamilton is midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta, who scored her fourth goal of the 2022 campaign against the Courage. LaBonta’s goal scoring run is arguably the most impressive of Kansas City’s leading scorers after having entered the 2022 season with just five goals in her previous six NWSL seasons. LaBonta, Hamilton and Kizer have combined for nearly two-thirds of Kansas City’s goals in the 2022 regular season.

SACRE BLEU!
Kansas City Current forward Claire Lavogez was voted the Budweiser National Women’s Soccer League Player of the Week, as announced by the league today. Signed by the Current on July 20, this is Lavogez’s first Player of the Week award.

Lavogez started the second half for Kansas City in North Carolina last Saturday with the team tied 2-2. Making only her second appearance with the club, Lavogez was an integral part of the team’s attack throughout the half.

Falling behind 3-2, Kansas City picked up the attack in the 60th minute. As midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta carried the ball down the right side of the field, Lavogez cut to the near post, dragging defenders with her. LaBonta’s cross deflected off Lavogez and right to a wide-open Cece Kizer who easily put home the equalizer.

Then the French international capped off the night in the 79th minute. Defender Elizabeth Ball stole the ball from the Courage attack and found Lavogez in the center circle. After receiving the pass from Ball she went straight down the middle of the field towards goal, pulling up about 30 yards from the end line to launch a powerful shot over the arms of the Courage goalkeeper and to the upper left corner of the goal, securing the win and NWSL-best fourth road victory of the season.

HISTORY ON SEPT. 13
On Aug. 16, the Kansas City Current announced that membership deposits for KC Current Stadium at Berkley Riverfront Park will go on sale Sept. 13. The stadium, which opens in 2024, will be the first purpose-built stadium for a women’s professional sports team.

Membership deposits place deposit holders on an inside track to secure a seat at the new KC Current Stadium, and deposits will be available for four seating types once available. For 2023 KC Current Season Ticket Members, no deposit is required.

For more information about membership deposits and the Berkley Riverfront Park stadium, visit www.kccurrentstadium.com

#SHOWUPKC
The Current encourages fans from across the region to #ShowUpKC for the team’s match against Angel City FC Friday. The team looks to break the all-time Kansas City attendance record and fill the seats with over 10,000 fans. Visit www.kansascitycurrent.com/tickets for more information on single-match tickets. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kansas City Current midfielder Desiree Scott — Scott has not missed a beat since returning from the Concacaf W Championship with Canada, starting and playing at least 74 minutes in her first three matches back from international duty. That includes back-to-back 90-minute appearances in Kansas City’s last two matches, the first of which held special significance. In the 60th minute of Kansas City’s 2-1 win over San Diego Wave FC, Scott became just the second Canadian player and 29th player in league history to surpass 10,000 NWSL minutes played. In Saturday’s match against the Courage, Scott recorded a NWSL single-game season-high ten tackles. She’s had another solid individual year in 2022, with 16 clearances and 15 interceptions while winning 56.8% of her tackles.

Angel City FC goalkeeper Didi Haracic — Haracic is enjoying one of the best statistical seasons of her lengthy NWSL career in 2022. The Round Hill, Virginia native earned her career-high fourth shutout of the 2022 season with a three-save performance against Chicago last weekend. One of Haracic’s shutouts this season came against Kansas City May 25. Haracic has 39 saves so far this season, which ranks eighth in the NWSL, and has one penalty kick save.

MATCH INFO 
Kansas City Current vs. Angel City FC
Friday, August 19 at 7 p.m. CT 
Children’s Mercy Park – Kansas City, Kansas
Watch on CBS Sports Network