July 31, 2022 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – Kansas City Current News Release
KANSAS CITY – Facing a multi-goal deficit for the first time since the NWSL Challenge Cup Semifinal on May 4, the Kansas City Current (5-4-4, 19pts, 6th place) rallied for a thrilling 2-2 draw with the Orlando Pride (3-5-5, 14pts, 8th place) on Sunday night at Children’s Mercy Park. The draw extended Kansas City’s franchise-best unbeaten streak to eight matches, and forwards Elyse Bennett and Cece Kizer notched crucial second-half goals to earn the come-from-behind draw.
“In the first half, we would go to get on the ball and then that second movement, third movement to help each other kind of seemed off,” said head coach Matt Potter. “In the second half, once we changed the tempo, changed the rhythm and the passes were cleaner, the quality was better, then we showed how dangerous we could be.”
Orlando opened the scoring in the 25th minute on its first shot of the match. Midfielder Erika Tymrak lofted a cross into the Current’s penalty box and found a leaping Celia Jiménez, who nodded the ball past Current goalkeeper AD Franch for the contest’s opening goal. Orlando’s 1-0 lead marked the first time Kansas City had faced a deficit in NWSL play since June 18 against Chicago and snapped the Current’s 205-minute shutout streak. The Pride’s 1-0 lead stood heading into halftime.
The Pride quickly extended their advantage in the opening moments of the second half. Following a scrum in the Current’s penalty box, Franch was knocked off the ball and seemingly hurt. Orlando midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard took advantage and found a wide-open Julie Doyle six yards from goal. Doyle tapped the ball home to double Orlando’s lead in the 46th minute.
From there, the Current took over the match. Bennett, who entered the match as a second-half substitute, struck first. The rookie drove down the right side of Orlando’s defense and weaved her way deep into the Pride penalty area. Coming down the end line, she then fired a low shot past goalkeeper Erin McLeod that found the net after striking the inside of the post.
The second-half action wasn’t entirely one-sided. Orlando lifted a dangerous free kick to the back post that fell to midfielder Mikayla Cluff in the 72nd minute, but Franch reacted brilliantly to make a sprawling save that kept the Current’s deficit at one goal. Franch had three total saves in Sunday’s match.
Kansas City didn’t wait much after Orlando’s near-goal to level…