KC Current
KC Current lose to San Diego Wave FC 2-0
Kansas City Current lose to the San Diego Wave FC, 2-0, in front of home record crowd of 12,969 in NWSL league play.
The Kansas City Current returned to Children’s Mercy Park hosting San Diego Wave FC after a 3-2 loss last Sunday at Angel City FC. Like the Current, the Wave came into the game looking for a win. At game time, San Diego was on a two-game losing streak. The Current defeated the Wave in the last meeting in August 2022 with a 2-1 road win. The teams played to a 2-2 draw in the only other meeting in 2022.Â
For the Current, a return to Children’s Mercy Park, in front of a home record crowd of 12,969, breaking the club’s home attendance record set on April 1 with 11,301 fans, was yet another opportunity to steer the course of their 2023 season after a 0-3 start.
Starting XI
Head Coach Caroline Sjöblom made a change to the goalkeeper position, giving AD Franch the starting role again after Cassie Miller started the last three games. Forward Kristen Hamilton, after being unavailable all season due to a knee injury, returned to the 18, but did not see any game time. The team started with four defenders, a switch Sjöblom made last week in LA, hoping it would stop players like Alex Morgan.
Time to catch a wave 🌊#KCvSD | #KCBABY pic.twitter.com/NBRSHEqf1C
— KC Current (@thekccurrent) May 14, 2023
First half: Wave overtake the Current
The first half appeared to be the Current’s, at least in the first 15 of the game, with a near goal opportunity in the 5th minute. Midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo served a ball to forward Cece Kizer, who took a left-footed shot, but it was saved by Wave goalkeeper Kaelin Sheridan. In the 11th minute, Mimmi Larsson’s shot from a difficult angle on the left missed to the left. In the 15th minute, Kizer, again, found an opportunity with a header after a corner, but it missed to the left.
But despite the early opportunities, it was San Diego who converted their chances, and made it 2-0 by the end of the first half. An own goal by AD Franch, after an Alex Morgan shot, gave the Wave a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute. In the 44th minute, San Diego’s Belle Briede’s right-footed shot went in for the second goal, making 2-0.
Charlie’s Mom opens the scoring in KC!
🎥 » @NWSL
pic.twitter.com/k9HmsfasrJ— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) May 14, 2023
Helluva goal from the @sandiegowavefc! pic.twitter.com/KCIjCMDus0
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 14, 2023
Second half: Another strong start, but no goals
The Current played a sloppy first half. Though there were chances with five shots, two of them on goal, and 51% of the possession, they easily lost possession plenty of times and appeared to fade, losing the attacking momentum of the first 15. The Current would need a strong second half to pull the comeback. There was a switch at the half, with Izzy Rodriguez coming in for Mimmi Larsson, allowing for Hailie Mace to move up and Michelle Cooper to switch to the number 9 position. With Addisyn Merrick coming in for Kate Del Fava in the 67th minute, the Current switched to a three-back system, hoping to bring numbers forward.
But every effort for the Current failed, including the 20 total shots for the game. Kansas City found themselves losing another game they could have won had they been clinical. The Current are now 2-5-0 for the season.
The Current take a trip to Kentucky for a Wednesday UKG Challenge Cup match against Racing Louisville FC this Wednesday. Then return to Children’s Mercy Park to host Racing Louisville at 7pm for season play the following weekend on Saturday.
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My daughter made the comment that whenever Sporting wins the Current loses and vice versa. For the past month, that’s been 100% true (after the season started with both teams losing). And as long as we’re comparing these teams, yesterday’s effort from the Current reminded me too much of what we’ve often seen from Sporting this season: plenty of chances but doomed by a bit of sloppiness in the back and a complete lack of finishing up front.
Kizer has been one of the team’s MVPs since she came over last summer, but this was not her best performance. Not only did her giveaway lead to SD’s second goal, but she could have (should have) score at least one of her own. This is the second game in a row in which she’s left opportunities on the table. It will be great to get Hamilton back in the rotation because I think that what ended up working so well last summer was having her and Kizer and Bennett swapping in and out for each other. (Plus the energy that both Hamilton and Cooper pour into a game will be fun to watch together.) So far (understandably), Kizer has played just about every minute and I think she could benefit from the occasional break. I also have been less than fully impressed so far with Larsson. There is no reason this roster shouldn’t be scoring multiple goals each match and yesterday was especially disappointing as they were at home going against a team that had been leaking goals.
Do not disagree at all.
I have to say, I feel like a few roster decisions are the main culprits in this disappointing start. I wasn’t too sure about them at the time (and I know I wasn’t alone as most of us were simultaneously excited and scratching our heads) but now we can see the consequences pretty clearly. It’s hard to fault them for trading Williams coming off injury in a WC year, and they did replace her with Debinha. However, Williams is a wide player and we positively loaded up on central players to the point where most of us struggled to figure out how to fit them on the field.
Furthermore, I’m not yet sure any of current CBs are actually good enough to play. I can’t figure out why Winebrenner hasn’t had a chance because frankly, the others haven’t been very good. They haven’t been consistently awful, but none are going to keep Ball or Loera off the pitch. Basically, we started building like we intended to change formation but quit halfway through.