Match Report: Kansas City Current advance to Challenge Cup Semifinals with 2-1 win over Chicago Red Stars | Presented by Nebraska Furniture Mart

The Current will face North Carolina on May 4 at Children’s Mercy Park. Tickets On Sale Wednesday, April 27.

KANSAS CITY (April 24, 2022) — The Kansas City Current advanced to the semifinals of the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup with a 2-1 win over the Chicago Red Stars, the club’s fourth win of the year. Forward Kristen Hamilton scored her fourth goal of the 2022 Challenge Cup, while rookie defender Alex Loera notched her first career goal to bring Kansas City the win. Both goals came from passes by rookie forward Elyse Bennett, who now leads the 2022 Challenge Cup in assists.

“The rookies that are coming in are playing for a reason,” said head coach Matt Potter. “I’m a big believer if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. They’re certainly proving on this stage that they belong. We believe their best days are ahead of them but they’re certainly making an impact and doing the job that they need to do while other players are working their way back.”

The game remained scoreless throughout the first half, until defender Alex Loera entered the match at halftime. Just five minutes later, the rookie logged her first-ever professional goal. Kansas City forward Elyse Bennett passed the ball back to the top of the penalty box, and Loera rocketed it into the top right corner past goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.

Chicago quickly answered with a goal of their own in the 52nd minute, when Ella Stevens crossed the ball to the back post for Bianca St-Georges, who knocked it past Kansas City goalkeeper Cassie Miller.

Miller came up big several times throughout the second half, including in the 60th minute, when Chicago’s Arin Wright found herself open at the top of the box. Her shot was easily collected by the goalkeeper, who made her second start of the season tonight.

The Red Stars nearly had a second goal in the 70th minute off a corner kick from Vanessa DiBernado. Current defender Kristen Edmonds headed the ball off the line to prevent Chicago from taking the lead.

The Current found the go-ahead goal in the 76th minute, when Bennett slipped the ball between Tatum Milazzo’s legs to find Hamilton right on the goal line. The forward knocked it past Naeher for her fourth goal of the 2022 Challenge Cup. It was also Bennett’s fourth assist, making her the league-wide leader in assists for this year’s Challenge Cup

Kansas City kicks off the regular season on Saturday in Portland before returning home to host the Challenge Cup semifinals on Wednesday, May 4 against the North Carolina Courage. Tickets for the match will go on sale Wednesday, April 27.

Season Tickets and Flex plans are available for all home matches at Children’s Mercy Park. For pricing and information visit kansascitycurrent.com.

NWSL Challenge Cup Match Report
Match: Kansas City Current vs Chicago Red Stars
Date: April 24, 2022
Venue: Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, Kansas 
Kickoff: 4:07 p.m. CT / 5:07 p.m. ET
Weather: 64 degrees, sunny
Attendance: 5,107

Discipline
45+1’ Chicago Yellow Card – Arin Wright
74’ Kansas City Yellow Card – Kristen Edmonds

Scoring
50’ Kansas City – Loera (Bennett)
52’ Chicago – St. Georges (Stevens)
76’ Kansas City – Hamilton (Bennett)

Scoring Summary

Lineups:
Kansas City: Miller, Rodriguez (Loera), Ball, Leach, Winebrenner, Weber (LaBonta), Scott©, Edmonds, Pickett (Curran), Hamilton (McCain), Bennett (Del Fava
Substitutes Not Used: Franch, Schneider, Nolf, Johnson

Chicago: Naeher, Kowalski (Mautz), Sharples, Milazzo, Morse, DiBernardo, Colaprico, Wright, St-Georges, Nagasato, Griffith (Stevens)
Substitutes Not Used: Boyd, McManus, Aguilera, Fisher, Foster