Match Report: Kansas City Current returns from international break with history-making win over Houston

The Kansas City Current carried over its impressive June form into July with a 2-1 road win over the Houston Dash on Friday night. The victory extended the Current’s franchise-best unbeaten streak to five matches and marked the first regular season road win in franchise history. Midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta and defender Hailie Mace scored goals in the 42nd and 46th minute respectively, and Houston was unable to mount a rally despite scoring in the waning moments of the match.

“A lot of players put in a good, honest night’s work, that’s what you have to do on the road,” said head coach Matt Potter. “We’ve talked about at the end of the game, when we have to grind then we need to be prepared to grind. When we can play, we have to be prepared to play. So tonight proved to be one of those nights and we’re really proud of the group.”

Aside from the goal scorers, Current goalkeeper AD Franch had perhaps the biggest impact on Friday’s match. The hosts had the first significant scoring opportunity of the match in the 27th minute when the Dash’s recently acquired forward Ebony Salmon drove in on Franch one-on-one. The Current goalkeeper did enough to cut down the breakaway angle and stopped Salmon’s shot with her foot, then Franch made another massive save seven minutes later to deny Houston forward Shea Groom from eight yards out. 

Franch was heroic all evening, making multiple jaw-dropping stops in the second half that helped maintain Kansas City’s lead. With five saves in Friday’s match, Franch eclipsed 350 career saves in her National Women’s Soccer League career and improved her 2022 save total to a league-best 37.

Kansas City and Houston traded opportunities in the first half before the Current took the lead in the waning moments of the period. On the Current's first corner kick of the match in the 42nd minute, Dash forward Shea Groom blocked a second-chance cross with her arm inside the penalty box, which resulted in a penalty kick for Kansas City. LaBonta drilled the spot kick into the top shelf of the goal to give the Current a 1-0 lead. 

Head coach Matt Potter’s squad struck immediately after halftime to double the lead. Only 36 seconds into the half, forward CeCe Kizer made a darting run down the wing and found Mace at the top of the penalty box with an inch-perfect pass through multiple Houston defenders. Mace slotted the ball home for the match-winning goal in the 46th minute. The Dash did get on the score sheet in the final moments of the match after a ball deflected past Franch off a Current defender. However, it was too late into the second half added time to make any difference as the Current travel home with the 2-1 win 

Kansas City is next in action on Sunday, July 10 at 4:00 p.m. CT for a road clash with the Washington Spirit. The team’s next home match comes the following weekend on Sunday, July 17 at 6 p.m. CT against the Orlando Pride.

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

NWSL Match Report
Match: Houston Dash vs Kansas City Current 
Date: July 1, 2022
Venue: PNC Stadium, Houston, Texas 
Kickoff: 7:37 p.m. CT/8:37 p.m. ET
Weather:  89 degrees, sunny 
Attendance: 5,007

Discipline
9’ Kansas City – Loera (yellow)
42’ Houston – Groom (yellow)
54’ Houston – Eddy (yellow)
71’ Houston – Hanson (yellow)
90+2’ Houston – Salmon (yellow)
90+7’ Houston – Prisock (yellow)

Scoring
42’ Kansas City – LaBonta (PK)
46’ Kansas City – Mace (Kizer)
90+10’ Houston – Ball (OG)

Scoring Summary

Lineups:
Houston:  Campbell, Ashley (86’ Jacobs), Naughton, Prisock, Groom (67’ Ogle), Salmon, Anderson (67’ Gomera-Stevens), Eddy (86’ Gareis), Visalli, Viggiano (86’ Farquharson), Hanson
Substitutes Not Used: Dederick, Gramaglia, Rosa

Kansas City: Franch, Edmonds, Ball, Leach (61’ Merrick), Loera (89’ Rodriguez), LaBonta (90’ McCain), Pickett (77’ Curran), Kizer (61’ Bennett), Hamilton, Mace, Del Fava
Substitutes Not Used: Miller, Johnson, Nolf