Kansas City Current suffers first defeat of 2024 campaign in 2-1 loss to Orlando

KANSAS CITY (July 6, 2024) — The Kansas City Current (10-1-5, 35 pts, 2nd place) saw its 17-game unbeaten streak come to an end on Saturday night with a hard-fought 2-1 loss to the Orlando Pride (11-0-5, 38 pts, 1st place). Saturday's showdown between the top two clubs in the NWSL lived up to its name, resulting in a thrilling battle that was decided by a decisive penalty kick by Orlando's Marta in the 63rd minute.

Orlando forward Barbara Banda, who began the day tied with Kansas City forward Temwa Chawinga at the top of the NWSL Golden Boot standings, opened the scoring in the 37th minute before Chawinga equalized seconds later with a brilliant individual effort. The Current fought valiantly in front of another sellout crowd at CPKC Stadium to push for an equalizer, but the Pride emerged victorious in Saturday's battle of the undefeated.

“We have ten games left, the play-offs are just around the corner and hopefully we will meet them in the final,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski.

The attacking prowess of both sides was on display throughout the first 45 minutes. Goalkeeper AD Franch made two brilliant saves in the second minute to keep the game scoreless, and Michelle Cooper headed a cross from Izzy Rodriguez just over the Pride net in the seventh minute. In the 14th minute, Orlando defender Carrie Lawrence was booked for a foul on Chawinga as she broke through on goal.

Lawrence's foul set the tone for a physical match that saw both teams commit a total of 29 fouls and receive seven yellow cards.

Debinha made history in the 26th minute, becoming the first Brazilian player to reach 10,000 career minutes in the NWSL. In the 31st minute, Hailie Mace reached the 5,000-minute threshold for her NWSL career.

In the 38th minute, Banda put the visitors ahead. Adriana's long-range shot was blocked by Elizabeth Ball, but the ricochet fell perfectly for Banda. She took a cross to the Current penalty spot and fired her shot past Franch for the first goal of the game.

The goal put Banda atop the NWSL Golden Boot standings, but her stay atop ended less than two minutes later when Rodriguez found Chawinga in midfield. Chawinga, who had her back to goal, spun around a Pride defender and ran toward the goal. Near the top of Orlando's penalty area, Chawinga weaved through multiple Orlando defenders before getting a clear view of goal. To cap off her brilliant individual run, Chawinga curled a left-footed shot past Orlando's Anna Moorhouse to tie the game in the 39th minute.

In the 42nd minute, the Current received an additional shock when Lawrence received her second yellow card of the match for a hard foul on Chawinga. That resulted in a red card for the Pride, who had to finish the match with ten players. Chawinga almost put the Current ahead in injury time of the first half, but the match was still 1-1 at halftime.

The second half continued with similar intensity as both sides took the lead, with Rodriguez and Chawinga seeing shots fly just above Moorhouse's goal in the opening ten minutes of the second half.

In the 60th minute, the referee awarded the visitors a penalty after a collision between Franch and Adriana in the Current penalty area. Marta eventually converted the chance in the 63rd minute to put Pride ahead 2-1. The penalty was the first awarded against Current this season.

The Current pushed for an equalizer in the final half hour of the game. Franch made a huge save on a Banda shot in the 80th minute to keep Kansas City within reach, and Bayley Feist saw an 18-yard effort sail just over the goal in the 88th minute. In the second minute of stoppage time in the second half, Rodriguez found Ellie Wheeler in the penalty area with a long, diagonal pass. Wheeler seized on the pass and had a one-on-one chance with Moorhouse, but the keeper held firm to save the opportunity. Kansas City ultimately could not break through and the Pride took home the victory by a single goal.

Kansas City has next week off and won’t play another regular season match until August 25 as the NWSL prepares for the Olympics. In the meantime, Current returns to play at CPKC Stadium on July 20 when they kick off the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup against the Houston Dash.

The game will be broadcast on Paramount+ and CBS Sports, and fans in Kansas City can listen via the Kansas City Current Radio Network.

NWSL Match Report
Match: Kansas City Current vs. Orlando Pride
Date: July 6, 2024
Location: CPKC Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Start: 6:30 PM CT
Weather: 86 degrees, sunny
Attendance: 11,500

Discipline
14' Orlando – Lawrence (Yellow)
23' Orlando – Marta (Yellow)
28' Kansas City – Hutton (Yellow)
42' Orlando – Lawrence (Second Yellow, Red)
47' Kansas City – LaBonta (Yellow)
57' Kansas City – Mace (Yellow)
61' Kansas City – French (Yellow)

To score
37' Orlando – Band
39' Kansas City – Chawinga (Rodriguez)
63' Orlando – Marta (PK)

Summary of the score

Goals	1	2	F
Kansas City	1	0	1
Orlande	1	1	2

Current Kansas City Lineup: Franch, Rodriguez, Ballisager, Ball (86' Lauren), Mace, LaBonta ©, Hutton (71' Wheeler), Debinha, Chawinga, Lavogez (57' Feist), Cooper
Unused replacements: Steigleder, Glas, Scott, Hamilton, Silkowitz, Spaanstra

Orlando Pride Program: Moorhouse, Lawrence (RC 42'), Sams, Strom, Abello, Yates (45' McCutcheon), Marta ©, Angelina (70' Dyke), Adriana (70' Watt), Doyle (44' Souza), Banda
Unused substitutes: Crone, Allen, Lemos, Martinez, Gautrat, Rafaelle