FC Kansas City To Host Chicago

Blues Hope to Stay Undefeated at Home

PRARIE VILLAGE, KAN. (June 19, 2024) – FC Kansas City (7-4-3 24 pts) is hosting third place Chicago Red Stars (6-4-2 20 pts) on Saturday June 21st. The match will start at 7:00 PM Central Time on Verizon Wireless Field at Durwood Soccer Stadium. Four points separate the Blues and the Red Stars in the National Women’s Soccer League standings. A win and three points will lessen the gap between Kansas City and the first place Seattle Reign FC to two points. The last minute 2-1 win in Houston will be high to ride in to the match with Chicago. The Red Stars visit after a 2-0 loss to Western New York Flash.

Last Saturday, FC Kansas City traveled to Houston for the last regular season meeting with the Dash. Regular names in the lineup were missing such as Amy Rodriguez, Lauren Holiday, Becky Sauerbrunn and Nicole Barnhart for national duty. While some were missing, new ones were all over. Australian international Katrina Gorry was in the starting lineup in her first match with FC Kansas City. Rookie Sara Keane started in goal and Amy LePeilbet earned her first start in the backline. The first hour of the match was scoreless, and then in the 66th minute, Erika Tymrak got the ball. Tymrak crossed to rookie Jenna Richmond who launched the ball from way outside the box and in to the net. It was Richmond’s first goal of her professional career. Houston answered with a goal in the 77th minute when Becky Edwards capitalized on a corner kick. The match looked like a draw until substitute Frances Silva headed in a Tymrak corner in the final seconds of the match. Houston’s goal ended a FC Kansas City shutout streak of 394 minutes.

Western New York Flash shut out the Chicago Red Stars on Wednesday night. The two goals of the night came at the first and last minutes of the game. An early corner sent to Brittany Taylor found the back of the net in the second minute, putting the Flash up 1-0. The later goal came in stoppage time when Samantha Kerr carried the ball to the top of the box and sent it past Taylor Vancil and securing the win. While the score tells a different story, Chicago outshot the Flash on target 6-5. This match was also very physical with a total of 27 fouls and 5 yellow cards, 4 given to Chicago players. The loss maintained the space between Chicago and FC Kansas City in the standings.

Saturday will be the second matchup between Kansas City and Chicago, the first was at home and the Blues won 1-0 with a goal from Rodriguez. The new roster additions and the return of the US national players will make the Blues a bigger offensive threat to the Red Stars. Kansas City’s backline will have captain Sauerbrunn returning adding depth to the defense. Barnhart leads the NWSL’s goalkeepers with 5 clean sheets for the season and only 16 goals allowed. Chicago has a name that the Blues did not see in the last matchup, Christen Press has returned from Tyreso to play for the Red Stars. FC Kansas City is currently undefeated in six games, winning the last four.

Kick off against the Chicago Red Stars will be at 7:00 PM Central Time on Verizon Wireless Field at Durwood Soccer Stadium. The Blues will stay in Kansas City and host Portland Thorns FC on June 28th. Tickets are still available by calling 855.4.KC.GOAL

FC Kansas City is a Women’s Professional Soccer Team competing in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). The “Blues” began play in front of nearly 7,000 fans on April 13th, 2024, the first NWSL game in history. For more information or media inquiries please email Huw Williams at hwilliams@kcprosoccer.com or Lindsey Daley at ldaley@kcprosoccer.com.