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DiBenardo & Chawinga with goals for a 2-0 victory in Louisville

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Photo: KC Current/NWSL

With four games left in the regular season, the Kansas City Current looked to once again clinch a home quarterfinal game. The Current would need to win at Racing Louisville, their opponent this fine evening who was also looking to gain some points to break into the top 8 in the NWSL standings. Kansas City would also need some help to clinch a home playoff game from the North Carolina Courage, who would need to either draw or lose against the San Diego Wave. The North Carolina Courage ended up winning 2-1, so the chance to clinch a top four finish would have to wait yet another week, but with the games diminishing, the Current are closer to clinching an opportunity to host a home playoff game as they continue to remain unbeaten since their last loss on September 1st.

Another major milestone waiting for the Current was for their leading goal scorer Temwa Chawinga, who coming into this game was just one goal away from matching the NWSL regular season scoring record, which was set in 2019 by Sam Kerr of the Chicago Red Stars. Chawinga also had a comfortable lead in the Golden Boot race with 17 goals. At game time, Chawinga had scored in 10 of the Current’s last 11 regular season games.

Starting XI

Could this be the most ideal starting XI ever? Maybe! The Current began in a 4-2-3-1 with Bia returning in the center forward position, making her first start since June.

First half: Ahhhh. Chawinga!

Remember that Chawinga just needed one more goal to tie the single season scoring record set in 2019 by Sam Kerr? It didn’t take long for Chawinga to score goal number 18 of the season, which officially tied that record in the second minute. Debinha set up Chawinga perfectly with a pass in front of her as Chawinga was making a run on the wing into the box. By that point, Chawinga was already a step ahead of Racing Louisville defender Arin Wright to just put it past goalkeeper Katie Lund to give the Current a 1-0 lead early in the first half.

The first half remained 1-0 with a few good looks by the Current. Stats-wise, Racing Louisville maintained most of the possession (54%-46%), but offensively the Current recorded 9 shots, 3 on goal, while Louisville recorded just 2 shots on goal, 1 on target. Then of course, there’s xG stats with Kansas City at 1.09 in comparison to Racing’s 0.3.

Second half: DiBenardo Rocket

Vanessa DiBenardo has been such an important player for Kansas City, and we should hype her more. While so much of the focus is on Chawinga and her impressive scoring achievements, DiBenardo, along with Lo’eau LaBonta, is the anchor of the Kansas City midfield. As the Current pressed for a second goal of the night, a foul set them up for a direct free kick. DiBenardo took the kick, sending a rocket right into the goal, making it the Current’s first direct free kick goal of the season and DiBenardo’s fifth goal of 2024.

DiBenardo’s goal in the 86tth minute would seal the 2-0 win for the KC Current, their first win in Louisville ever. The Current remained in fourth place, though. A win by Gotham FC tonight would keep them from the leap to third. One point separates the Current (46 points) from second and third place (Washington Spirit and Gotham FC both have 47 points). At press time, the Spirit have yet to play this weekend.

NWSL Match Report
Match: Racing Louisville FC vs. Kansas City Current
Date: October 5, 2024
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium, Louisville, KY
Kickoff: 6:38 p.m. CT/7:38 p.m. ET
Weather: 76 degrees, fair
Attendance: 6,013

Discipline
81’ Louisville – Fischer (Yellow)

Scoring
2’ Kansas City – Chawinga (Debinha)
86’ Kansas City – DiBernardo

Racing Louisville FC Lineup: Lund, Milliet, Wright, Petersen, Erceg ©, Beckie (73’ Fischer), Borges, DiGrande, DeMelo (90+2’ Pokorny), Sears, Balcer

Unused Substitutes: Jean, Baron, Clegg, Goins, Bahr, Bloomer, Molthalo

Kansas City Current Lineup: Schult, Rodriguez (62’ Wheeler), Sharples, Cook, Mace, LaBonta ©, DiBernardo (90+1’ Feist), Debinha (72’ Hutton), Chawinga, Zaneratto (72’ Ball), Cooper (62’ Prince)
Unused Substitutes: Franch, Ball, Scott, Ballisager, Hutton, Magaia

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