Kansas City, Missouri. (09/19/2024) – The Washington Spirit will face the Kansas City Current on Friday in the final meeting between the two teams of this year’s regular season. The game will begin at 8 p.m. EDT at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri and will be broadcast nationally on Prime. Fans can also listen to the game on the Washington Spirit Radio Network.

The Spirit

The Spirit enters Friday’s game against Kansas City off one of its most dominant performances of the season – a 3-0 win over the Houston Dash. Ashley Hatch returned to her regular position as striker and dominated with a brace in the first 26 minutes of the game.

Hatch’s first goal was a penalty in the seventh minute, the fastest penalty attempted or converted by the Spirit this season. The leading scorer in Spirit history has converted 10 of 10 penalties in the regular season of her career (all with the Spirit), catapulting her into fourth place in NWSL history and putting her first on the Spirit record list. She is the only player in the league to attempt more than six penalties and convert them all.

Trinity Rodman She shone again last week. The 22-year-old star scored a goal herself and provided an assist for Hatch’s second goal. It was the first time that Rodman, a 2024 Ballon d’Or finalist, has scored and assisted in back-to-back games. She also became the youngest player to reach 50 goal involvements in all NWSL competitions.

With a win over Kansas City on Friday, the Spirit will sweep the season series. That would mark the fifth consecutive year the Spirit has defeated the Current in the regular season. That would make it the fifth team to defeat the Spirit in this regular season (Gotham FC, Utah, Houston and Bay FC).

The Spirit have never played Kansas City on the road and have a 2-1-0 record when playing on the Currents’ home turf, including a stunning win last year in which they came from behind to score three unanswered goals.

Last game, Esme Morgan made her Spirit and NWSL debut with a start against Houston. The Sheffield native came to Spirit after playing for Manchester City for several years. She was signed in June and started in the back line alongside Tara McKeown.

Finally, Hatch is one to watch, having performed well and taken on a bigger role in recent games. Her brace last week was her fifth with the Spirit, the most in team history.

Next, the Spirit will continue their three-game road trip, heading to Los Angeles to face Angel City FC on Friday, September 27. The game will kick off at 10:00 p.m. EDT on Prime.

The opposition

Kansas City looks forward to its second consecutive Prime game on Friday night. Last week, the Currents faced the undefeated Orlando Pride, resulting in a scoreless tie. This was only the second time this season that either team was held scoreless.

Orlando’s defense dominated and effectively neutralized Current’s dangerous attack. It was Orlando’s fourth consecutive clean sheet and ended the record streak of striker phenom Temwa Chawinga, who had failed to score in consecutive games. Chawinga had scored in eight consecutive games before the game and is the current Golden Boot goals leader with 15 goals. Ouleye Sarr and Rodman are tied for fourth place in the race for the Golden Boot with eight goals each.

Kansas City currently sits fourth in the NWSL standings with a record of 11-3-6 (39 points). However, the team has struggled recently, winning just one of its last five games. Those five games include three straight losses to Orlando, the Spirit and North Carolina.

Despite their recent struggles, the Currents are still arguably the NWSL’s most potent offense with 43 goals scored, which is tops in the league. The Spirits are just one goal behind with 42. Other statistical categories in which the Spirits and Currents lead the NWSL include assists (Spirit – 29, Current – 26) and big chances created (Current – 64, Spirit – 53).

The Spirit dominated their last game against Kansas City, 4-1. They took a 3-0 lead and held on to it by converting four of their five shots on goal. The Current defense had no answer for the Spirit, recording an Audi Field record (NWSL games) 17 fouls in that game. The Current also had more possession than the Spirit.

The Current will likely have a new goalkeeper in Almut Schult, who replaced AD Franch. The German international has not conceded a goal in two games as a member of the Current.

The Current’s next game against NJ/NY Gotham FC is on Saturday, September 28th at 1:00 p.m. EDT.

Series history

• The Washington Spirit has a 5-2-0 record against the Kansas City Current in the regular season. After the Spirit’s dominant 4-1 win last time out against the Current, the all-time goal differential is now +3 (13-10) in favor of the Spirit. The Spirit’s road record against the Current is 2-1-0, including a win on the Spirit’s last trip to Kansas City.