Match Preview: Kansas City Current vs. Portland Thorns FC
Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas – Sunday, September 18 at 5:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Kansas City midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta was fouled a game-high three times against the Red Stars, bringing her season total to 41 fouls suffered. LaBonta is one of three NWSL players to be fouled 40+ times this season, joining Louisville’s Savannah DeMelo and Gotham FC’s Victoria Pickett (45). LaBonta has also scored in three out of the last four games, with forwards CeCe Kizer (2) and Kristen Hamilton (2) the only other players to score multiple goals in that span.
Portland attacker Hina Sugita scored her fifth goal of the season in their victory against Orlando in their last match. Sugita is one of eight NWSL players with goals in four different calendar months this season with teammate Sophia Smith being the only player with goals in five different months in league play in 2022. Sugita and Smith are also two of a remarkable 13 players to have scored for Portland this season, with forward Christine Sinclair (5) and Morgan Weaver (4) the only other players to have four or more goals on the year (Smith – 11).
Match facts: The Kansas City Current are looking to bouncing back from a loss against Chicago that ended their 13-game unbeaten run has they welcome Portland Thorns FC to Children’s Mercy Park in the lone Sunday match across the league.
The Current had worked up to that 13-game unbeaten streak with nine wins and four draws in the run but were defeated in a 4-0 thrashing against the Red Stars. Still, the streak ended as the second-longest unbeaten streak in a single season in NWSL history behind only a 16-game run by the Reign in 2014.
On the visitors’ side, the Thorns avoided their first three-game losing streak since 2015 with a 2-0 win over Orlando on Friday in which forwards Yazmeen Ryan and Hina Sugita both found the back of the net. Portland has also scored multiple goals in 12 different games this season, which leads the league, while their seven clean sheets are also tied for the most in the league (San Diego).
In four all-tie meetings in league play, the Thorns have three wins against the Current, holding Kansas City scoreless in each meeting. The four consecutive clean sheets against a single opponent ties them for most in league history, the first time Portland has ever done so.
