Match Preview: Kansas City Current return from international break looking to sweep Seattle Reign in 2024 season series

KANSAS CITY (June 7, 2024) – The Kansas City Current (7-0-4, 25 points, 2nd place) are home Sunday to face the Seattle Reign (2-8-1, 7 points, 13th place) in the first ‘Teal Out’ match, presented by Palmer Square Capital Management. The match will broadcast on KMCI, 38 The Spot with Anna Witte and Erik Bergrud on the call and streamed on NWSL+ with Kylen Mills and Lianne Sanderson. Fans in Kansas City can listen live as Dave Borchardt and Jillian Carroll Letrinko bring the action on 90.9 The Bridge. Dave and Jillian can also be heard live on the KC Current App, along with a Spanish language broadcast.

This is the first match for the Current coming out of the recent FIFA International Window. Seven Kansas City players represented their home countries during the break. Nichelle Prince and Desiree Scott (Canada), Debinha (Brazil), Sophie Braun (Argentina), Stine Ballisager (Denmark), Hanna Glas (Sweden) and Claire Hutton (USA U20) all wore their nation’s colors in international play.

The last match saw the Current earn a 1-0 victory over the Utah Royals in Sandy, Utah. Kansas City had a season high 24 shots, with eight on target, but the Royals flooded the defensive shot lines and had some incredible goalkeeper saves to hold the NWSL’s highest scoring offense to just one goal. Defender Elizabeth Ball broke the stalemate in the 58th minute, battling through her defender to slide a shot under the diving Royals goalkeeper. Ball’s goal was the 100th scored in club history and set a new NWSL record, as she became the 15th different player to score for Kansas City this season. No other club has had more than 14 different scorers prior to this.

This is the second matchup between Kansas City and the Seattle Reign in 2024. The last match, May 8, was the only time this season that Kansas City has been held without a goal as they battled through a long week to a scoreless draw. The lack of scoring was not for a lack of effort. Kansas City had 13 shots in the match with five on target. Reign goalkeeper Laurel Ivory made a season high six saves in the match. Meanwhile, the Current defense stepped up to the task and only allowed one shot on target throughout the entire match.

Seattle came into May 8 match having conceded 10 goals in seven games. After holding the Current scoreless, the Reign have now conceded 10 more goals in the past three matches, all losses for the Pacific Northwest side. The Reign will look to return to their stingy defense while relying on veterans like Bethany Balcer and Veronica Latsko to find chances to pull their team ahead in one of the toughest places to play in the NWSL as Kansas City has scored 18 goals in front of the home crowd at CPKC Stadium.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kansas City defender Elizabeth Ball – The veteran defender was inserted into the match against the Utah Royals after Gabrielle Robinson went down with an injury in the 26th minute. Coming in cold to a position as crucial as center back is always challenging, but Ball was calm and cool as she anchored the backline to a clean sheet. Then to help the cause she slid into the Royals penalty box and converted a Claire Hutton pass into the winning score.

Seattle Reign goalkeeper Laurel Ivory – Ivory has been the Reign’s primary goalkeeper since coming in to replace Claudia Dickey, who had to leave due to injury, in the 58th minute against Bay FC April 14. Her best game of the season came against the Current a few weeks later. Facing a career high 13 shots she was able to make six saves and keep Kansas City off the scoreboard for the only time this season.

HISTORICAL SEASON
The 2024 Kansas City Current season started off with the historical opening of CPKC Stadium. As the season progresses, the historical accolades continue to roll on. Through the first 11 games of the season, the team has scored 25 goals, only five goals short of the club single-season record set in 2023.

Defender Elizabeth Ball scored the winning goal in the last match. In doing so, she scored the club’s 100th regular season goal and became the 15th different goal-scorer this season, a new NWSL record.

Individually, there are also several milestones that are on track for completion. Midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta has already surpassed 10,000 career regular season minutes and became the first player in club history to surpass 5,000 minutes with the club.

Midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo is 859 minutes from hitting 15,000 career minutes and only her 29 career assists are only two short of the all-time NWSL record.

Goalkeeper AD Franch is already etched into the NWSL and Current record books. The club’s all-time leader in Save (160), Clean Sheets (12) and wins (21) is only 12 games shy of playing her 150th career regular season match.

Midfielder Debinha set the single-season club record for goals (9) in 2023. As she works add to her career accolades, she is only 312 minutes short of hitting 10,000.

Forward Kristen Hamilton, who played her 100th career game shortly after joining the club in 2021, is now only four appearances shy of 150 career regular season games.

In her fifth NWSL season, defender Hailie Mace is creeping up on 5,000 career minutes played. Heading into Sunday’s match, she needs 378 minutes to hit the benchmark.

TEAL OUT
Sunday night’s match against the Seattle Reign is the club’s first ‘Teal Out’ match, presented by Palmer Square Capital Management. Fans are encouraged to deck themselves out in the team’s signature color as they cheer on the Current. The first 10,000 fans will receive a Teal rally towel as they enter the stadium.

ANDONOVSKI vs HARVEY
Sunday’s matchup features the two-winningest active coaches in the NWSL. Vlatko Andonovski (75-47-47) vs Laura Harvey (99-72-53). With the Current’s win against Utah May 25, he became the second-fastest coach to reach 75 wins, accomplishing the feat in only 169 matches. Meanwhile, Harvey is in reach of being the first NWSL coach with 100 career wins.

These two coaches were original members of the NWSL in 2013. Andonovski hold the advantage head-to-head, with 10 wins, seven draws and four losses in the 21 games they have faced each other.

INJURY UPDATE
Ahead of Sunday’s match, defender Hanna Glas has been activated off the Season Ending Injury List (SEI). She will now be available for selection as the Current now have 26 active players on the roster.