July 19, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
Kansas City Current News Release
KANSAS CITY – With the league-wide Olympic Break underway, the Kansas City Current prepare to host the Houston Dash for the first ever NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup Saturday, July 20 at 7 p.m. CT. This match will launch the first of Kansas City’s three group stage matches in the international tournament, all hosted at CPKC Stadium. The match will stream live on Paramount+ with Kylen Mills and Jeff Attinella on the call. KC fans can listen to Jillian Carroll Letrinko and Doug McLagen on 90.9 The Bridge. Fans with the KC Current App can also listen to the action in English or Spanish.
The Summer Cup features all 14 NWSL teams plus the top six teams from Liga MX Femenil broken out into five groups. The Current are in Group C along with the Dash, Pachuca and Tigres UANL. Group C is the only one of the five to feature two Liga MX clubs.
Kansas City hit the NWSL regular season break second on the table with the top offense in the league, scoring 40 goals in the first 16 matches of the season. The final game before the break, July 6, was a battle of the NWSL’s last unbeaten teams as the Orlando Pride came into town. Orlando opened the scoring with forward Barbra Banda jumping on a loose ball in the box and finding the net. Kansas City answered back minutes later as forward Temwa Chawinga dribbled through seemingly the entire Pride defense and scored her 12th goal of the season. Banda and Chawinga have each scored a league-leading 12 goals, although Chawinga holds the Golden Boot lead due to her six assists on the season. The Current’s 2-1 loss ended an 18-game unbeaten streak for the club, dating back to the final two games of 2023.
Houston comes into the Summer Cup following a 1-0 loss against the Chicago Red Stars July 6. The Dash have gone five games without scoring, although the back line has remained a high point for the squad, who has the second most shutouts in the league. The Dash will play without goalkeeper Jane Campbell, who leads the league in saves for the Dash, as she has been called up as an alternate for the U.S. Olympic team.
This will be Kansas City and Houston’s third match up this season, last playing June 28 to a 2-0 Kansas City victory. Temwa Chawinga scored her second brace of the month in the match, outfoxing the Dash backline to pocket two goals in three minutes during the second half. The Dash have not yet been successful against the Current defense…