Match Report: Kansas City falls to Houston Dash

The Kansas City Current were defeated by the Houston Dash, 2-0, on Sunday in the team’s regular season home opener. This was the Current’s third match in eight days, following a match in Portland last Sunday and the Challenge Cup semifinal on Wednesday.  

“Great crowd, great atmosphere,” said head coach Matt Potter on the team’s regular season home opener. “Wasn’t the result we wanted obviously, but the endeavor we showed towards the end of the game to keep working, that speaks to who we want to be.” 

The Current dominated possession with 60% of play during the game, and outshot Houston 15-9. Despite high pressure from Kansas City, Houston took the lead late in the first half, when defender Elizabeth Ball was called for a foul in the box against Houston’s Michaela Abam. Dash captain Rachel Daly stepped up to take the penalty and put Houston up 1-0 in the 40th minute. 

Just nine minutes later, right before the halftime whistle, a long ball found Daly out wide on the right flank. The forward was alone against goalkeeper AD Franch, who came up big with a diving save toward the back post to deny the Dash. Franch reached her 10,000th minute of play in the NWSL during tonight’s match. 

The Current found several opportunities in the second half. In the 72nd minute, Hailie Mace played a ball through the Dash defense for Kristen Hamilton. Her shot forced a sprawling kick save out of goalkeeper Jane Campbell. Just a few minutes later, Mace had a shot of her own from the top of the penalty box, which curled around Houston defender Elizabeth Eddy but was saved by a dive from Campbell.

Kansas City’s best chance of the night came in the 88th minute, when midfielder Addie McCain passed a ball back to Lo’eau LaBonta, who charged toward the goal and sent a rocket screaming toward Campbell. The goalkeeper again prevented the goal with a diving save. 

Houston doubled their lead in stoppage time. Midfielder Brianna Visalli charged past the Kansas City defense to collect a long ball, going directly against Franch. Her low shot slid under the keeper for the Dash to win 2-0. 

The Current plays its next game on the road against the Orlando Pride on May 14. The next home match is May 30 against Racing Louisville FC. Season Tickets and Flex plans are available for all home matches at Children’s Mercy Park. For pricing and information visit www.kansascitycurrent.com/tickets.

NWSL Match Report
Match: Kansas City Current vs. Houston Dash
Date: May 8, 2022
Venue: Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, KS 
Kickoff: 4:08 p.m. CT/5:08 p.m. ET
Weather:  74 degrees, cloudy
Attendance: 6,140

Discipline

64’ Kansas City – Scott (Yellow)
75’ Houston – Sanchez (Yellow) 
90+2’ Kansas City – Loera (Yellow)

Scoring
40’ Houston – Daly (PK)
90+6’ Houston – Visalli 

Scoring Summary

Lineups:
Kansas City: Franch, Edmonds (79’ Del Fava), Leach, Ball (59’ McCain), Winebrenner (46’ Curran), Mace, Loera, Scott © (79’ Nolf), LaBonta, Pickett, Hamilton (70’ Rodriguez) 

Houston: Campbell, Eddy, Naughton, Prisock (83’ Ashley) , Hanson, S. Schmidt, Viggiano, Prince (74’ Visalli), Sanchez, Daly ©, Abam (57’ Groom)