The Kansas City Current kept their home winning streak and overall undefeated streak alive tonight with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Bay FC in the first match ever between these two clubs. Forwards Temwa Chawinga and Bia Zaneratto each had a pair of goals while midfielders Vanessa DiBernardo added a couple assists and Bayley Feist scored her first goal for the Current.
The match started off on a hot note with forward Alexa Spaanstra getting the Current’s first shot on target in the first minute of action as she broke free from the defense. Although the goalkeeper was able to make that save, Current fans would not have to wait long for satisfaction.
Zaneratto intercepted a failed clearance pass less than a minute later and found herself one on one with the goalkeeper. Staring down her opponent, Bia didn’t waste any chance and barrelled a shot into the far netting, giving Kansas City a second minute 1-0 lead.
In the sixth minute, Spaanstra was able to recover a cleared corner kick and sent a second ball cross into the middle of the penalty box. Feist, making her second straight start of the season, jumped over everyone to get her head down on the ball and tuck it into the near post, putting Kansas City up 2-0. The goal was Feist’s first with the club and Spaanstra’s first assist of the season.
With her goal, Feist also became the 10th different player to score a goal for the Current in 2024. No other team has spread the wealth as much in the first five games of a regular season in NWSL history.
Bay FC did scratch one back in the 18th minute. Defender Kayla Sharples, who scored her first career goal earlier this season, connected on an assist from midfielder Deyna Castellanos to get within 2-1. That score held until halftime and was the closest Kansas City would allow Bay to get all night.
“The message to this team at half was, this is not over,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “It’s 0-0, we have 45 minutes. Let’s win the second half. I just believe this was our game and I wanted to win the second half. They felt they could do better in the second half, and it showed.”
DiBernardo continued her dominance of the midfield in this match. Starting the second half she was able to control play and direct traffic to find the best options.
In the 56th minute, the veteran midfielder dribbled the ball to space towards the left half of the field, drawing the entire opposition towards her while allowing Chawinga to drift right. Seeing the opportunity, she sent a long cross over to Chawinga wide open on the right where the forward simply had to take two touches before burying it into the back of the net.
Not satisfied, DiBernardo once again won the ball on her half of the field and saw Chawinga again racing toward goal. Another long arching pass in the 62nd minute found its way to the Malawian forward whose speed took her to the ball before the Bay goalkeeper could backpedal far enough into the goalmouth. Chawinga cut in with one touch to avoid the only defender with a chance of stopping her, then lofted her shot over the goalkeeper and under the crossbar.
Looking to put the nail in the coffin, Chawinga and Bia worked their way up the left sideline for a beautiful give and go sequence that passed through six defenders on the way to goal. Defender Regan Steigleder sent a grounded pass up the left sideline. Chawinga dummied it to Bia just past midfield. The Brazilian tapped the ball to space, allowing Chawinga to run onto it and draw three defenders towards her. Chawinga then split the defense to find Bia again, who muscled her way onto the ball and find the fifth goal of the night.
With the 5-1 victory, the Current have become the first team in NWSL history to score 17 goals in the first five games of an NWSL regular season. Chawinga and Bia, with six goal contributions each, are second in NWSL history within their first five games in the league.
The Current will hit the road for the first of a three-game road trip next week, travelling to Los Angeles to play Angel City Friday, April 26 at 9 p.m. CT on Amazon Prime. Fans at home can listen along on 90.9 The Bridge and on the KC Current App.
NWSL Match Report
Match: Kansas City Current vs. Bay FC
Date: April 20, 2024
Venue: CPKC Stadium, Kansas City, Mo
Kickoff: 6:30 CT/4:30 PT
Weather: 52 degrees, partly cloudy
Attendance: 11,500
Discipline
23’ Bay FC – Sharples (Yellow)
87’ Bay FC – Princess (Yellow)
Scoring
2’ Kansas City – Bia
6’ Kansas City – Feist (Spaanstra)
17’ Bay FC – Sharples (Castellanos)
56’ Kansas City – Chawinga (DiBernardo)
62’ Kansas City – Chawinga (DiBernardo)
73’ Bia
78’ Bay FC – Tess Boade (Anderson)
Scoring Summary
| Goals | 1 | 2 | F |
| Kansas City | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Bay FC | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Kansas City Current Lineup: Franch ©, Mace (Steigleder 90’+1), Robinson, Ball, Wheeler, Feist, Hutton, Spaanstra (Cooper 65’), DiBernardo (Lavogez 65’), Chawinga (Ballisager 90’+1), Zaneratto (Pfeiffer 77’)
Unused Substitutes: Scott, Rodriguez, Hamilton, Silkowitz
Bay FC Lineup: Proulx, King (Moreau 81’), Sharples (Brewster 81’), Menges, Dydasco, Bailey (Conti 67’), Loera (31’ Anderson), Castellanos (Princess 67’), Kundananji, Oshoala, Boade
Unused Substitutes: Rowland, Malonson, Beattie, Shepherd
