Two goals from the Houston Dash led to a loss for the Kansas City Current at home to close out the month of May. A strong defensive first half from the Current was not enough to slow down the Dash.
“I think the players showed a lot of effort,” said interim head coach Caroline Sjöblom. “Of course conceding goals affect the team in the first half. But then the second half I liked the way we played and we should have scored. We had so much possession and a lot of opportunities inside their box.”
The Dash came out strong early on, with a long distance shot from Diana Ordóñez in the second minute. Her strike from distance forced a diving save from Cassie Miller and sparked a run of defensive prowess from the Current back line.
In the 31st minute, Houston defender Michelle Alozie found the ball on the right hand side. She centered the ball to find Joelle Anderson at the penalty spot, but Cassie Miller snatched the powerful shot out of the air.
Eleven minutes later, the Dash would capitalize off the counterattack. Alozie played a long ball across the pitch to find forward María Sánchez charging down the left side of the pitch. The forward found Ordóñez, who powered past the Current defense and slid the ball past a diving Miller.
The Current came out on the front foot in the second half. Just three minutes in, forward Mimmi Larsson played the ball back to find rookie Michelle Cooper in the midfield. Cooper charged across the center of the pitch to lay the ball off for Hailie Mace, whose shot from distance sailed over the bar. Mace made her 50th NWSL appearance tonight.
Houston doubled their lead in the 54th minute off a corner kick. Caprice Dydasco found defender Ally Prisock at the back post. Her header sailed over the Kansas City defense and into the back of the net.
A burst of attacking initiative from the Current led to several good chances for Kansas City. In the 60th minute, Mace again found a shot from distance at the top of the box. The rebound from goalkeeper Jane Campbell found Mace again, and she launched the follow up shot over the bar.
Just before the final whistle, defender Kate Del Fava had a chance at goal. She placed herself perfectly to find a cross in from Lo’eau LaBonta, and faced off one-vs-one against Campbell. Del Fava smashed the shot toward goal, but Campbell’s quick reaction saved the shutout for the visitors.
The Kansas City Current returns home next weekend for the team’s annual Pride Night, presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. Join the team on June 3 with kickoff at 7:30. Season tickets, flex plans and single match tickets are available for all home matches at Children’s Mercy Park. For pricing and information, visit kansascitycurrent.com.
NWSL Match Report
Match: Kansas City Current vs. Houston Dash
Date: May 26, 2023
Venue: Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, KS
Kickoff: 7:07 p.m. CT
Weather: 75 degrees, sunny
Attendance: 9,897
Discipline
None
Scoring
42’ Houston – Ordóñez (Sánchez)
54’ Houston – Prisock (Dydasco)
Scoring Summary
Goals
1
2
F
Kansas City
0
0
0
Houston
1
1
2
Kansas City Current Lineup: Miller, Robinson, Soto, Merrick, Rodriguez (62’ Del Fava), Mace, Winebrenner (62’ LaBonta), Debinha, DiBernardo ©, Kizer (46’ Cooper), Larsson (62’ Hamilton)
Unused Substitutes: Franch, Silkowitz, Childers, Curran, Spaanstra
Houston Dash Lineup: Campbell, Chapman, Prisock, Lind, Dydasco, Anderson (79’ Groom), Hirst (90+6’ Jennings), Schmidt ©, Sánchez (59’ Gareis), Ordóñez (79’ Salmon), Alozie (59’ Tucker)
Unused Substitutes: Alvarado, Petersen, Solaun, Viggiano
