Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas – Saturday, June 3 at 8:30 PM ET
Players to watch:
Kansas City midfielder Debinha is set to face her old team, North Carolina, for the first time in her career. Debinha scored 51 goals in all competitions for the Courage, tied with Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign) for the second-most in a single team in NWSL history behind only Christine Sinclair (72 for Portland).
North Carolina forward Kerolin scored her fourth goal of the season and 10th overall for the Courage in their win over Louisville on Saturday. Kerolin is the eighth different player to score at least 10 regular season goals for North Carolina, most in NWSL since they joined the league in 2017, with current Kansas City player Debinha also on that list.
Match facts: The Kansas City Current host the North Carolina Courage at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night with the Current desperate to snap a three-game run of 2-0 losses to San Diego, Racing, and Houston, all at home, in their last three regular season games. The Courage, however, enter in on a five-game unbeaten run that includes three wins, most recently over Racing Louisville last weekend. The Current sit bottom of the league in 12th place with 6 points (W2 D0 L7), while North Carolina is up to 6th place on 14 points.
The Current have lost five straight matches in all NWSL competitions for the second time in club history after a six-match losing streak in May-June 2021. Kansas City has conceded multiple goals in all five losses (12 total), the longest such streak in club history.
North Carolina is unbeaten in six straight matches in all NWSL competitions (W3 D3), including a 2-1 win at Racing Louisville on Saturday. The Courage have won consecutive road matches and could win three in a row away from home for the first time since September 2019.
Kansas City has lost only one of its four home matches against the Courage in all NWSL competitions (W1 D2), losing a Challenge Cup semifinal, 2-1, in May 2022. The Current won the most recent meeting in Kansas City, 3-2, last August.
Noted (via Jen Cooper, The Keeper):
- A trio of North Carolina players are on the cusp of 50 regular season appearances in the NWSL, with Emily Fox, Victoria Pickett, and Ryan Williams all one away. Williams, however, is the only player to have had all 49 come with one club.
- Kansas City midfielder Debinha needs just one goal to reach 40 all-time regular season goals. Only 10 players in league history have hit such a mark thus far.
- Kansas City goalkeeper Adrianna ‘AD’ Franch is sitting on 397 saves in her regular season career, just three shy of an exclusive 400-club. Only four goalkeepers have produced 400 saves in a career in league history.
- Kansas City’s Lo’eau LaBonta and Hailie Mace both have the opportunity to take sole possession of the club’s all-time assist leaders (currently 5 each).
