FC Kansas City defender Becky Sauerbrunn (Photo Credit: Matt Ferris).
Tonight, FC Kansas City hosted the Houston Dash for their first meeting of three between the two teams. The Dash have never lost to the Blues on the road and tonight, they were determined to continue their winning streak in Kansas City.
The first half of the match started out with both teams finding their feet and attempting to take shots to challenge the goalkeepers at the back of the net. Late in the first half, Kansas City defender Brittany Taylor took a shot, which sailed above goal. Within a minute, midfielder Lo’eau Labonta was given a yellow card for a tackle. When the first half with three minutes of stoppage time added had ended, both teams walked off the field to a scoreless half, determined to come out for the second with much more action on the goal.
Early in the second half, forward Shea Groom received a passed from Christina Gibbons and managed to turn around the Dash defense to score. With the Dash behind, they became fierce, needing to make a comeback. Forward Rachel Daly managed to score the equalizer as goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart came out of the box and saved Daly’s first shot, but the ball rolled out of her hands and Daly finished her shot to bring back the Dash even.
FC Kansas City kept up the attacks as Labonta passed to Groom, who had a clean run and made a cut past Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell, who interfered with Groom’s shot and went down on the ground. A minute later, Labonta was given the red card for a slide tackle, which left Kansas City with 10 players on the field. Kansas City was hungry for another goal. Forward Brittany Ratcliffe took a long shot on the Dash goal, but was deflected by Campbell once again.
Houston had their first corner kick in the 70th minute in hopes of scoring another goal, but the ball was quickly saved by Barnhart despite the amount of pressure that was put upon her.
At the final whistle, the Dash gained three points on the road and now stand in seventh place. FC Kansas City is just behind Houston in eight place, despite being tied with 13 points a piece. Next, Kansas City will face Sky Blue FC as they travel to New Jersey next Saturday, July 8th.
SCORING SUMMARY:
#2- Shea Groom 46’
#3-Rachel Daly 55’
#14-Nichelle Prince 64’
BOOKING SUMMARY:
KC-Lo’eau Labonta, yellow card 35’
KC-Christina Gibbons, yellow card 52’
HOU-Carli Lloyd, yellow card 52’
KC-Lo’eau Labonta, red card 62’
FC KANSAS CITY: #18-Nicole Barnhart, #31-Christina Gibbons, #4-Becky Sauerbrunn, #10-Yael Averbuch, #13-Brittany Taylor, #25-Brittany Ratcliffe (#44-Maegan Kelly 78’), #3-Becca Morris (#21-Caroline Flynn
72’), #11-Desiree Scott, #2-Shea Groom (#6-Katie Bowen 78’), #14-Sydney Leroux, #9-Lo’eau Labonta
Subs not used: #15-Erika Tymrak, #22-Brianne Reed, #19-Cat Parkhill, #88-Alexa Newfield
HOUSTON DASH: #1-Jane Campbell, #55-Janine Van Wyk, #12-Amber Brooks, #22-Camille Levin, #2-Poliana Barbosa Medeiros, #23-Cami Privett, #16-Janine Beckie (#27-Caity Heap 46’), #17-Andressa Cavalari Machry (#4-Bruna Benites 76’), #14-Nichelle Prince (#13-Denise O’Sullivan 89’), #3-Rachel Daly, #10-Carli Lloyd
Subs not used: #18-Lydia Williams, #9-Sarah Hagen, #5-Cari Roccaro, #6-Morgan Brian
TOTAL SHOTS: KC 13-17 HOU
SHOTS ON GOAL: KC 3-9 HOU
FOULS: KC 7-12 HOU
OFFSIDES: KC 2-4 HOU
CORNER KICKS: KC 1-1 HOU
SAVES: KC 7-2 HOU
FC Kansas City
