Kansas City, Kansas
– The Kansas City Current defeated OL Reign, 1-0, behind a Lo’eau LaBonta spot kick in the 18 th minute to extend the club’s unbeaten run to seven games on the bounce.
Kansas City, Kansas
– The Kansas City Current defeated OL Reign, 1-0, behind a Lo’eau LaBonta spot kick in the 18 th minute to extend the club’s unbeaten run to seven games on the bounce. The Reign had an early look at goal after just five minutes, with defender Sinclaire Miramontez picking out forward Bethany Balcer in the penalty area from some distance. The ball careened at the feet of Balcer, who did well to get a shot away and threaten the Current goal though it fell wide in the end. Both teams would continue to create opportunities as the first half wore on, though none were good enough to beat Current goalkeeper Adrianna Franch or Reign netminder Phallon Tullis-Joyce. However, momentum swung in the Current’s favor when midfielder Victoria Pickett was judged to have been brought down in the penalty area by Reign defender Phoebe McClernon and Kansas City was awarded a penalty kick. This prompted midfielder Lo'eau LaBonta to step up and take the spot kick, and though Tullis-Joyce guessed correctly in direction, LaBonta’s shot was both placed and hit too well to stop as it soared into the top corner. The visitors would begin orchestrating their comeback attempt almost immediately though, nearly scoring close to just after the restart. In the 22 nd minute, Reign attacker Tziarra King pounced on a bouncing ball as she moved inside the penalty area and closer to goal. King then spotted the onrushing Franch and attempted to shoot over or around her, but King did well to smother the ball before it was hit to prevent the chance. In the 31 st minute, the Reign got about as close as they would all night as they pressed forward but watched in agony as a Balcer effort cannoned off the post and back into play. A set-piece play from some 40+ yards out resulted in a ball booted into the box then bouncing around with no one able to latch onto it. Eventually, Balcer claimed possession and ripped a right-footed effort toward goal that smacked the inside of the post and ran away from goal. The Current would have their own opportunities to double their advantage though, with shots close in from forward CeCe Kizer in the 37 th minute and forward Kristen Hamilton in the 39 th minute threatening the Reign goal. Then, midfielder Alexis Loera lined up a searing effort from distance on a free kick opportunity in the 42 nd minute that landed narrowly wide. At the halftime interval, the hosts Kansas City led by the one goal, a clutch penalty kick conversion from midfielder Lo’eau Labonta. Into the second half, Kizer and Loera continued to be a nuisance for the visitors’ defense. In the 55 th minute, a beautiful ball in to Kizer from Hamilton in a wide position saw Kizer fail to hit the target from a few yards out despite a gaping goalmouth in front of her. Four minutes later, Loera picked up a loose ball following a broken down attack and nearly chipped Tullis-Joyce from the right side of the penalty area with the effort landing just high of goal. In the 69 th minute, the Current’s pressure remained near constant with forward Elyse Bennett breaking through the opposition defense and causing chaos in front of goal. Chasing down a ball played in behind the defense, Bennett shrugged off one defender and stepped around another before she attempted to slide a shot under the oncoming Tullis-Joyce. The goalkeeper did well to remain low and prevent any such effort from happening, though. It would take until near the very end of regulation time for the Reign to truly threaten the Kansas City goal as they pushed for an equalizer, but Franch came up big once again. With attacker Ally Watt heading toward the endline on the right side of the box, she fired a low, powerful effort at goal that Franch was equal to and the Current saw the danger away. The result propels Kansas City to seven games unbeaten dating back to a 1-0 loss to the Reign at the end of May, with all three of most recent games wins. Meanwhile, the Reign’s four-game unbeaten run came to a halt with the loss as they now sit just below the Current in the league standings.
