Kansas City Current Earns Three Crucial Points in playoff push victory over San Diego Wave FC

Via Kansas City Current

Two early goals for the Kansas City Current earned the team a major win and three points in the narrow NWSL playoff race. A stunner in the third minute score from Debinha and Kristen Hamilton’s 25th career regular season goal were enough to secure the result for Kansas City.

“Three important points for us, we’re still in the hunt for the playoffs,” said interim head coach Caroline Sjöblom. “I’m very proud of the players tonight. The way we executed the game plan, but also the fighting spirit out there.”

The scoring started early, when Cece Kizer found Debinha at the top corner of the penalty box in the third minute. The midfielder hit a rocket past a diving into the top right corner, beating Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan for the early lead and her seventh goal of the 2023 campaign.

Twenty minutes later, Kansas City doubled its lead. Debinha chipped a ball through the back line to find Kate Del Fava at the center of goal. Del Fava, making her 50th career appearance, selflessly passed left to find forward Kristen Hamilton charging toward the far post. The forward knocked the ball past San Diego’s goalkeeper for her 25th career regular season score.

In the 40th minute, San Diego thought the team may have earned a penalty kick for a handball in the box. After review by the Video Assistant Referee, the officials determined there was no handball, and Kansas City kept the Wave off the scoreboard.

San Diego were on the front foot early in the second half. In the 50th minute, a corner kick bounced around in the box until it found midfielder Sierra Enge near the far post. She redirected the ball past goalkeeper AD Franch to cut the Current’s lead in half.

Franch came up big for the visitors just three minutes later, when forward Makenzy Doniak launched a low shot from the left side of the box. Doniak, who entered the match at halftime, forced a diving save from the goalkeeper, who read the play perfectly.

The Current made the most of the team’s opportunities throughout the night, converting the team’s only two shots on target, facing six from the opposing team, and leading the Wave in possession. The win for Kansas City keeps the playoff push alive, as the team hunts for points in an extremely close NWSL season. As the match closed, Kansas City sits only four points out of playoff position with three games remaining.

The team plays next on the road against the Washington Spirit on September 30, before returning to Kansas City for the final home match of the regular season against the Chicago Red Stars on October 7. The Current will also host Mexican club CF Monterrey Femenil for an international friendly on October 4. For ticket pricing and information, visit kansascitycurrent.com.

NWSL Match Report
Match: San Diego Wave vs. Kansas City Current
Date: September 16, 2023
Venue: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, CA
Kickoff: 7:07 pm. PT / 9:07 p.m CT
Weather: 68 degrees, cloudy
Attendance: 15,832

Discipline 
52’ San Diego – van Egmond (Yellow)
73’ Kansas City – Loera (Yellow)

Scoring
3’ Kansas City – Debinha (Kizer)
22’ Kansas City – Hamilton (Del Fava)
50’ San Diego – Enge

Scoring Summary

San Diego Wave Lineup: Sheridan, Pogarch (90+1’ Ali), Girma, Enge, Westphal, Jakobsson (45’ Doniak), Colaprico, van Egmond, Hill (68’ Carusa), Morgan ©, Shaw (83’ Kornieck)
Unused Substitutes: Yanez, Briede, Barcenas, Dougherty Howard, Cortez

Kansas City Current Lineup: Franch, Rodriguez, Ballisager, Ball, Del Fava, LaBonta, Loera (83’ Robinson), Debinha (90+6’ Lauren), Kizer (70’ Lavogez), Hamilton (83’ Spaanstra), Mace (90+6’ Larsson)
Unused Substitutes: Miller, Curran, Winebrenner, Merrick