Match Preview: Kansas City Current vs. North Carolina Courage
Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas – Sunday, August 28 at 7:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Kansas City midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta scored the lone goal for her side in its 1-1 draw with Angel City on Saturday. The goalscorer tallied only as she earned and then converted her own penalty kick, and now has four goals from the spot this season which is tied with San Diego forward Alex Morgan for the most this season.
North Carolina defender Carson Pickett delivered her fifth assist of the season in the Courage’s Wednesday win. Pickett, who is tied with Portland’s Yazmeen Ryan for most assists in 2022, has 80 chances created since the beginning of last season, tied with OL Reign’s Jess Fishlock for most in that span. When talking about the Courage, though, it’s impossible to mention forward Diana Ordoñez, whose 11 goals in her rookie campaign have her sitting tied for second in the league’s scoring charts.
Match facts: The final game of the weekend, the Kansas City Current welcome the North Carolina Courage to town in one of the more exciting matches of the six-game slate across three days. The Current have not lost in a remarkable 11 straight matches as they sit just outside first place with 26 points on 16 games, while the Courage are making a push for the playoffs with two straight wins for the first time since early June.
Kansas City is unbeaten in their last 11 matches (W7 D4) with all 11 of those matches being decided by a single goal or less. No other NWSL team has ever gone more than seven straight matches without a loss while playing in zero games decided by multiple goals. The Current have also won five out of their last seven games spanning back to the beginning of July.
North Carolina notched an impressive 3-1 win against Portland on Wednesday, though, for the team’s fifth straight game scoring at least three goals (W2 D2 L1). That is the longest streak of consecutive matches with three or more goals in NWSL regular season history.
When the teams met earlier this month, Kansas City scored a 4-3 away win with forward Claire Lavogez producing a stunning match-winner in the 79th minute. North Carolina has lost two games in which it has scored at least three goals this season with no other team having any such games over the last two seasons.
