Championship Match Preview: Gotham vs. Current

The Kansas City Current participated in two non-league tournaments during the Olympic break this summer and have already earned their first trophy by winning the latest iteration of the Women’s Cup in August. They also qualified for the final of the Summer Cup–curiously being played at the end of October in San Antonio, TX. This competition, officially the “NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup,” included every NWSL team and six of the top Liga MX Femenil sides. The Current breezed through their group stage, easily overcoming the Houston Dash, Tigres, and Pachuca on a +8 goal differential and then ousted the Courage 2-0 in the semis. Meanwhile, NJ/NY Gotham had a slightly more challenging time, defeating the Red Stars (soon to be just the “Stars”) in a shootout before winning against the Spirit and Guadalajara. They topped Angel City 1-0 in their semifinal to book this date with the Current.

The Current and Gotham are two of the top teams in the NWSL this season and have both already secured home playoff dates in the quarterfinals of the league’s regular postseason starting soon. Unsurprisingly, much of the focus for these two sides is on finishing the season in the strongest form possible which again makes this break from the regular season (there is only one remaining match for each team) a perhaps unwelcome distraction from the main goals. However, a title is a title and as fun as it was for the Current to hoist the Women’s Cup hardware back in August, they’ll be excited to do it again in October, this time against the reigning NWSL Champions.

The reason for the timing of this match is clear as all league teams are on a two-week break for international competition. Therefore, this game didn’t have to be scheduled around other obligations. With that said, thanks to that international break, these teams will look quite different than the ones that played to a 1-1 draw less than a month ago. During that game, Gotham’s starting 11 included these 7 players: Lynn Williams, Rose Lavelle, Jess Carter, Jenna Nighswonger, Yazmeen Ryan, Ann-Katrin Berger, & Emily Sonnett. All seven of those will be unavailable for Gotham as they have been called to their national teams (US, Germany, & England). In their absence, the team has just announced the temporary signings of Nicole Baxter, Sabrina Flores, Cheyna Matthews, Libby Moore, Mana Shim, Mak Whitham, and Sakura Yoshida. Gotham will look especially different on the defensive side of the ball as three of their starting four defenders plus their starting keeper are away. Will the KC attack be able to take advantage?

Speaking of Kansas City, they’ll be dealing with their own absences, with four athletes called away to don their national team kits: Hailie Mace (United States), Stine Ballisager (Germany), Hildah Magaia (South Africa), and Nichelle Prince (Canada). However, only two of these players have been getting regular minutes for the Current recently–Mace and Prince, and the squad would seem to have good depth options at both of those spots (Mace actually missed last weekend’s match due to yellow card accumulation and Wheeler & Rodriguez held down the fullback spots admirably). Of note is the fact that top scorer Temwa Chawinga received an invitation to join her Malawi national team, but declined the offer.

Now Mace, Stine, Hildah, and Nichelle have all been called up to their respective teams. According to sources, Temwa was on the provisional roster but declined. #KCBaby #NWSL https://t.co/2O8IpdPdLh

— Thad (@TheBackpost) October 18, 2024

Due to these absences and the primary focus on the league matches and postseason, there is a chance that Coach Andonovski trots out a heavily rotated lineup Friday night. For example, does AD Franch get slotted back in goal after Almuth Schult has taken every minute between the pipes over the last couple months? Kristen Hamilton popped up on the injury report last weekend, but if she’s healthy, could she see time at the #9 with Prince away? After all, Hamilton was named to the league’s Best XI for July largely based on her play during these non-league tournaments. Does soon-to-be-retired Desi Scott get a final starting nod in her illustrious career? Do fans get to see more than a cameo from Kenyan international Jereko?

While not wanting to risk injury or unnecessary wear and tear on his A Team, it seems likely that, with the exception of Mace and Prince, Andonovski lines up most of his regular starters for this title game. There is enough built in recovery time after this match and being able to grab bragging rights over both the US and Mexican leagues is too appealing to not go all in on trying to win.

It is also very possible that this won’t be the last time these two teams square off in 2024. They are clearly two of the top four teams in the league with identical records over the last several weeks. In fact, they’ve both earned 13 of a possible 15 points over their previous five matches with the only points dropped due to the draw against each other. They have twice played to a 1-1 result in the regular season and so the winner on Friday would gain (in addition to a trophy) a confidence boost should these sides meet in either the league semifinals or Championship Match.

WHEN: Friday, October 25 at 7:00 PM (Central Time)

WHERE: Toyota Park, San Antonio, TX

HOW TO WATCH: Paramount+

Record:

KC Current: 15-7-3 (52 points, 4th place in NWSL league standings)

NJ/NY Gotham FC: 16-5-4 (53 points, 3rd place in NWSL league standings)

Last Match:

KC Current: 4-1 home win to San Diego Wave

NJ/NY Gotham FC: 3-1 home win to Orlando Pride