Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas – Sunday, June 18 at 7:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Kansas City defender Izzy Rodriguez scored a consolation goal in second-half stoppage time for the Current in their 2-1 loss to the Reign last weekend. In regular season play in 2023, the Current have scored 10 goals in the second half (behind only Reign and Thorns) and just one in the first half of matches (four fewer than any other team).
Since being traded to Washington prior to the 2018 season, Spirit forward Ashley Hatch has scored 36 goals in the regular season for her side. That is the most regular season goals scored by an NWSL player with a single team in that time. Hatch currently leads her team with six goals (three penalties) on the year, good enough for 2nd in the league’s Golden Boot race.
Match facts: The Kansas City Current host a streaking Washington Spirit side at Children’s Mercy Park in the final game of the weekend’s action, with the Current looking to build on two wins in their last three games and the Spirit aiming to extend their league unbeaten run to four (W1 D2). Kansas City currently sit bottom of the league in 12th place with 9 points from 11 games, while Washington is up in 2nd place with 20 points from 11 games, level with San Diego on points bu behind on goal differential.
The only team in NWSL without a draw in league play this season, the Current’s 2-1 loss to OL Reign was their eighth regular season loss of 2023 (W3). Kansas City had just six regular season losses for the entirety of last season.
Ashley Hatch and Ashley Sanchez both scored in Washington’s 2-1 win over Angel City in the Spirit’s last league match. It was the fifth time both Sanchez and Hatch have scored in the same regular season match with only Portland’s Christine Sinclair and Sophia Smith having more such games since 2021 (6).
The Current won both meetings with the Spirit in 2022 after in Washington secured wins in both matches between the clubs in 2021. The most recent meeting was a 3-0 home win for Kansas City, which is the only game in the fixture not decided by a one-goal margin.
