Match Preview: NJ/NY Gotham FC vs. Kansas City Current
Red Bull Arena | Harrison, New Jersey – Sunday, September 11 at 6:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Gotham midfielder Paige Monaghan led her team with three shot attempts, one of which was on target, against North Carolina in the club’s loss last Sunday. Monaghan leads her team with 10 shots on target this season ahead of teammate Ifeoma Onumonu’s nine, and has nine games with a shot on goal to lead the team ahead of Onumonu’s seven such games. The only players in the side to have scored more than one goal all year are Monaghan (2) and forward MidgePurce (3).
Kansas City midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta converted another penalty kick in their last outing, this time to help open the scoring against North Carolina for her league-leading fifth penalty kick goal this season. LaBonta has scored from the spot in consecutive matches now and could also join Megan Rapinoe and Sarah Woldmoe as the only players in league history to score from the spot in three straight games should the Current be awarded another penalty kick and LaBonta assume the duties.
Match facts: Gotham FC hosts another Sunday showdown as this time the club welcomes the Kansas City Current to Red Bull Area in the first of two games to close out the weekend’s packed six-game slate.
Remarkably, Gotham has gone 17 games this season without ending a match in a tie (W4 L13), the most consecutive games without a draw in the club’s history. Gotham is still the only team in the NWSL this season that hasn’t evened the score of any game after going down a goal, nor allowing a side to come back and earn a point once a lead has been established.
Kansas City, though, boasts an even more impressive statistic as the club is without a loss in 12 games (W8 D4), the longest unbeaten stretch for the Current with the club never going more than two games without losing in league play prior to that streak. The team has also scored in all 12 games, the longest active scoring streak in the league.
The scales are tipped in the Current’s favor based on history, with Gotham FC yet to find a win against the Current after two draws last season and a 1-0 loss this season. The only other team Gotham has failed to beat in the league is the San Diego Wave, with the Wave winning both matchups this year.
