MATCH REPORT: Kansas City Current Logs First Win Over Portland Thorns in Club History

The Kansas City Current logged a second consecutive road win as the team visited Portland to take on the Thorns. Forward Alexa Spaanstra drew a foul in the box that led to a penalty kick, and her fellow rookie forward Michelle Cooper stepped up to the spot to score the goal. 

“I’m very proud of the performance tonight from the players and also how we defended through the whole game,” said interim head coach Caroline Sjöblom. “I’m proud of the players, how they ran and fought on the pitch for all 90 minutes of our time tonight.”

While Kansas City was comfortable taking a more defensive stance in this match, they came out on the front foot to start. Playing in the midfield, Jenna Winebrenner logged her first shot of the season after forward Kristen Hamilton was surrounded in the box. Winebrenner jumped on the back pass and hit a screamer from the edge of the attacking third that hit the woodwork in the 15th minute. 

Just one minute later, the action went to the other end of the pitch when forward Morgan Weaver charged past the defensive line and laid off a ball to find Izzy D’Aquila right at the middle of the box. Goalkeeper Cassie Miller charged off her line to try and prevent the shot, then Kansas City defenders Kate Del Fava and Gabrielle Robinson converged to deny a goal. 

The Current’s rookies were a thorn in Portland’s side all night, but Spaanstra and Cooper were the two that combined to log Kansas City’s goal. In the 35th minute, Spaanstra made a curling run into the box but was taken down by Klingenberg. The referee whistled for a penalty kick, and Cooper sent goalkeeper Bella Bixby the wrong way, blasting it into the lower right corner. 

Kansas City withstood wave after wave of pressure from the Thorns throughout the rest of the match, facing a total of 26 shots with nine on target over the course of the game. Miller came up huge for the Current several times, including in the 61st minute, when D’Aquila found the end of a long pass from midfield and tried to tap it past the goalkeeper. Miller dove to her left to push the ball away, and defender Del Fava jumped on the clearance to clear it. 

With nine saves in the match, Miller logged her fourth shutout of the season. The shutout also snapped Portland’s scoring streak, having scored at least once in 18 consecutive regular season matches at home until tonight. 

The Current continue the team’s road stretch next weekend, as the club travels to Louisville on Friday night, with kickoff at 7 p.m. CT. The team returns home on July 22 to host the Houston Dash in UKG NWSL Challenge Cup play. Tickets are available for all home matches at Children’s Mercy Park. For pricing and information, visit kansascitycurrent.com.

NWSL Match Report
Match: Portland Thorns vs. Kansas City Current
Date: July 1, 2023
Venue: Providence Park, Portland, OR 
Kickoff: 7:07 p.m. PT / 9:07 p.m. CT
Weather: 77 degrees, sunny  
Attendance: 17,796

Discipline 
35’ Portland – Klingenberg (Yellow)
90+3’ Kansas City – Assistant Coach (Yellow) 

Scoring
36’ Kansas City – Cooper (PK) 

Scoring Summary

Portland Thorns Lineup: Bixby, Klingenberg, Menges, Hubly, Kuikka, Coffey ©, Porter (69’ Betfort), Moultrie, Weaver, D’Aquila, Vasconcelos (45’ Reyes) 
Unused Substitutes: Hogan, Kozal, McGrady, Nally, Provenzano, Beckman, Morrison

Kansas City Current Lineup: Miller, Rodriguez, Robinson, Ball (83’ Merrick), Del Fava, Gautrat (60’ Curran), Winebrenner, Spaanstra (90+5’ Soto), Kizer, Cooper, Hamilton © 
Unused Substitutes: Franch, Silkowitz, Childers, Loera