**Kansas City, Kansas** – The Kansas City Current left it late but were able to defeat NJ/NY Gotham FC thanks to an 84 ^th minute winner from forward Kristen Hamilton in front of the home crowd.
It took just 10 minutes for one of the sides to see their first quality opportunity on goal. As the Current played the ball out of the back, Gotham FC was able to force a turnover close to the 18-yard box with midfielder Kristie Mewis slipping forward Margaret Purce in. However, as Purce drew closer to goal, her shot toward the far post could not find the goalframe as the Current were able to carry away possession to clear the danger.
Three minutes later, Kansas City was able to test Gotham goalkeeper Michelle Betos through midfielder Hailie Mace. Teammate Alexis Loera was able to find Mace with a pass that allowed her to come in from the left side and fire in on goal. Though her curling effort toward the far post was well-struck, Betos was able to get low and hold the chance safely in her palms.
In the 24 ^th minute, another chance fell for Purce as she collected possession followed a cleared corner kick into the penalty area. On the ball and on her right foot, Purce powered a drive toward Current netminder Cassie Miller’s goal that was deflected on the way in and fell wide of goal.
As the first half wore on, chances for all of Kristie Mewis, Current attacker Kate Del Fava and Gotham midfielder Paige Monaghan all came close but would ultimately not find the back of the net as the pair went into the halftime interval locked in a scoreless draw.
Just past the hour mark, Gotham goalkeeper Michelle Betos was forced into two saves inside a minute despite separate chances to continue to preserve the team’s clean sheet. In the 64 ^th minute, Current midfielder Desiree Scott had a right-footed shot from just outside the box saved well by Betos. Then, just a few seconds later, a massive chance for the Current fell to the feet of forward Elyse Bennet, but she was unable to beat Betos low in their 1v1 and Kansas City saw back-to-back chances fall by the wayside.
However, just as the match looked destined to finish scoreless, a moment of late heroics from Kansas City forward Kristen Hamilton would end up separating the two sides. Defender Isabel Rodriguez carried the ball down the left side of the field in the attacking third and, as she approached the byline, a sea of bodies crashed into the six-yard box. However, lifting her head, Rodriguez was able to spot the trailing run of Hamilton just a few feet inside the penalty area and cut the ball back. Standing in acres of space and unmarked, Hamilton was able to get enough on her effort to roll it past Betos and give her side a late lead at home.
The officiating crew would end up assigning seven minutes of stoppage time to the second half, but Gotham’s late push for an equalizer would ultimately fall short as the Kansas City Current extend their unbeaten run to three games having won two out of the last three of those, both of which came at home.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights