Quarterfinal Match Preview: Angel City at KC Current

At the outset of any season, a team basically has one goal: to win a championship. For much of the spring and summer, the feelings around Kansas City were not overly optimistic. And yet, here we are, with the Current entering the playoffs as the hottest team, on a five-match winning streak and getting to host a quarterfinal game in front of some of the best fans the sport has to offer.

Of course, their reward for going on a tear to enter the postseason is hosting one of the other most in-form teams in Angel City. In fact, the Angelinos haven’t lost since August 26th, and many pundits are predicting and ACFC victory this weekend and for an all-southern California final with the teams from Los Angeles and San Diego meeting to crown a champion. It is also true that Angel City played Kansas City tough this year, beating the Current 2-1 in SoCal back in May before drawing in KC at the beginning of August.

Needless to say, though, neither of these teams are the same as they were even just a few months ago. At that time, both of these squads were hovering around the fringes of the playoff line with records that were under .500 and restless fanbases. The Current were dealing with several injuries and still tinkering to find the best starting eleven. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that it was also during this summer that there was a major trade that occurred between these two teams that, perhaps, has worked out for all involved.

The Ally Sentnor Trade: Since she entered the league as the #1 overall pick by the Utah Royals in January of 2024, Sentnor has been a star. She has regularly featured for the USWNT and was named the 2024 Young Player of the Year. So when the Current traded for her in August of 2025, in the midst of their record-breaking Shield-winning run, it seemed like a coup. And yet, the team was never able to find a good fit for her. She would finish 2025 without scoring for the Current, and while she did eventually tally twice for the team over the first half of 2026, it consistently felt like underwhelming results considering her potential and what the team paid for her.

Therefore, in June the Current and Angel City negotiated another trade, this time to send Sentnor to California in exchange for $850,000. And, well, everyone has thrived as a result. Since heading west, Ally has bagged six goals and several assists and helped lead her new team in a steady march up the table. Meanwhile, not only did KC net the money with her departure, but by not having to worry about figuring out how to get Sentnor into the lineup, the #9 spot has basically become Haley Hopkins’s fulltime, and she has proceeded to score an even dozen goals on the season.

Of course, in a way, the ultimate “winner” of the trade may be the team that remains alive in the playoffs by early afternoon this Saturday. Kansas City’s defense will face a difficult test going against Sentnor and Sveindís Jónsdóttir and Riley Tiernan and Gisele Thompson and Jun Endo, etc. Just last weekend, this group picked apart the Boston Legacy for four goals, finishing the season with 54 goals scored–the exact same number as KC. The Current’s backline has been improving in recent weeks, but they could have their hands full with the creative and speedy LA attack.

Defensively, Angel City has actually been the fourth best unit in the league (and their +22 goal differential is by far the best in the NWSL). So, getting past the likes of Emily Sams, Sarah Gordon, Savy King, Thompson, and then Angelina Anderson in goal won’t be easy for the Current’s attackers. But keeping Chawinga, Hopkins, Cooper, Bethune, Debinha, DiBernardo, LaBonta, etc. from scoring is also not an easy task.

In fact, it feels like Temwa, specifically, may be due for a big game. She’s been coming close a lot recently (how many times has she rattled the woodwork?) but she hasn’t actually scored since October 3rd. That’s an eternity in Chawinga years. It was, of course, in part the injury to Chawinga that made the 2025 postseason more challenging for the Current. Now that Temwa and Cooper and most of the team is fully fit, KC will be eager to avoid the sort of letdown that followed such a successful season last year.

The winner of this match will face the winner of the game between #1 Gotham and #8 Seattle so it is quite possible that if Kansas City advances, they will have the chance to directly avenge their playoff loss at the hands of Gotham from last year. First things first though, proving that CPKC Stadium really is a fortress; that last year’s home playoff defeat was a fluke and that the regular season home success will carry over into the postseason.

PLAYOFF PREMIERE AT OUR HOUSE !!! 🍿 Our road to a championship starts Saturday at CPKC Stadium against Angel City at 11AM. Get your tickets now: bit.ly/11726HomePla…

— KC Current (@kansascitycurrent.bsky.social) 2026-11-02T00:34:43.738Z

WHEN: Saturday, November 7 at 11:00 AM (Central Time)

WHERE: CPKC Stadium, Kansas City, MO

HOW TO WATCH: CBS / Paramount +

Record:

KC Current: 16-5-9 (53 points, 4th place)

Angel City FC: 15-7-8 (52 points, 5th place)

Last Match:

KC Current: 2-0 road win over Racing Louisville

Angel City FC: 4-1 home win over Boston Legacy