FC KANSAS CITY SHUTS DOWN SPIRIT

Lauren Cheney Has Two Goals in Dominating Win

OVERLAND PARK, Kan (June 23, 2024) – In the first meeting between the Washington Spirit and FC Kansas City, the home side put together a performance that will be tough for the Spirit fans and players to forget.  The ‘Blues’ sent eighteen shots in on Spirit goalkeeper, Ashlyn Harris.  Lauren Cheney scored a goal in each half and the 3,057 fans in attendance were treated to a dominating 2-0 FC Kansas City victory.

Last week, with the U.S. National Team and Canadian National teams each playing international friendlies, FC Kansas City reached into its bench for a pair of games against Chicago.  Erika Tymrak, Melissa Henderson and Courtney Jones, were stellar in their national player’s absences and found themselves in today’s starting eleven, even with the return of Lauren Cheney, Becky Sauerbrunn, Nicole Barnhart, Kristie Mewis, Lauren Sesselmann and Desiree Scott.

“I felt that against Washington, and with all that we’ve had going on lately, this lineup was the best way for us to win today,” said Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski.  “I think the results speak to that, Melissa (Henderson) gave us a different dimension offensively that we haven’t had before and then Renae (Cuellar) was fresh and fast when she came in second half.”

Lauren Cheney found herself with five shots on the afternoon and Spirit goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris had to make several acrobatic dives just to attempt to get in front of them.  Cheney’s first goal was blasted from 24 yards out on the right side.  Harris got a hand on it, but there was too much power behind the shot for her to keep it out of the net.  In the second half, Cuellar broke free on a Kansas City counterattack.  After Cuellar’s initial shot was blocked, Merritt Mathias collected the rebound and popped an easy cross to a wide open Cheney for her second goal of the match.

FC Kansas City wins 2-0 to increase their record to record to 6-4-1.  With 19 points they are tied for third on the National Women’s Soccer League table with Western New York Flash.  The team travels to New Jersey to face Sky Blue FC on Wednesday at 6:00p.m. CT before returning back to Verizon Wireless Field on Sunday, June 30th at 3:10p.m. to face Alex Morgan and the Portland Thorns.

NWSL Match Report

Match: Washington Spirit vs. FC Kansas City
Date: June 23, 2024
Venue: Verizon Wireless Field at Shawnee Mission District Stadium, Overland Park, Kansas
Kickoff: 3:10p.m. CT (4:10pm ET)
Attendance: 3,057
Weather: 88 degrees, partly cloudy

Lineups:
FCKC: 1-Barnhart Goalkeeper; 13-Robinson Right Back, 14-Sesselmann Center Back, 4-Sauerbrunn Center Back, 19-Mewis Left Back; 15-Tymrak (17-Farrelly 73’) Right Midfielder, 6-Buczkowski Midfielder, 11-Scott Midfielder, 12-Cheney Midfielder, 8-Jones (9-Mathias 56’) Left Midfielder; 2-Henderson (10-Mathias 60’) Forward
Subs not used: Henninger, Kelly, Williams

WAS: Gayle, Harris, King, Krieger, Lindsey, McCarty, Ochs (Roberts 66’), Pressely, Spencer, Toulouse (Hodak 46’), Pohlers (Williams 69’)
Subs not used: Chapman, Huster, Jones