Tag: Kansas City Current

Kansas City Current fire medical chief for reported relationship with player

Carlos Jimenez was terminated for a violation of the NWSL’s non-fraternization policy

The Kansas City Current have fired Carlos Jimenez, the head of their medical department, for a reported relationship with a player.

The Athletic reported Jimenez was terminated for a violation of the NWSL’s non-fraternization policy, which bans relationships between a supervisor in the league and a direct employee.

“When we learned of (Jimenez’s) actions in violation of club and league policies, he was immediately terminated,” the Current said in a statement to The Athletic. “We remain committed to making sure our policies and practices ensure a safe space for our players and our staff.”

Jimenez joined the Current in December 2023 after spending last season working as a physical therapist with the Washington Spirit. He also served as the lead physical therapist for the U.S. woman’s national team between 2019 and 2021, per his LinkedIn page.

Jimenez is the second NWSL employee to be fired this year for violating the league’s non-fraternization policy. Last month, the Houston Dash fired goalkeeper coach Matt Lampson amid a reported relationship with a player.

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‘Was wondering why my neck was a bit stiff’ – Leroux posts video of nasty mid-air collision

This had to hurt

Angel City FC striker Sydney Leroux paid a serious price for some solid defensive work in Saturday’s game against the Kansas City Current.

Leroux rose up to head away a Current corner kick late in the first half at CPKC Stadium, before she was clattered into mid-air by rookie defender Ellie Wheeler.

The veteran forward violently slammed to the turf but somehow managed to pop back up to her feet immediately after a play that looked like it could have sent her to the hospital.

Wheeler was perhaps lucky to only receive a yellow card on the play, which Leroux posted on X with the caption: “Was wondering why my neck was a bit stiff this am…..”

Leroux would enact some measure of revenge five minutes into the second half, as she scored her first goal of the season to cut Kansas City’s lead in half.

The Current would tack on two more goals later in the half, however, ensuring Leroux and Co. would go back to California with some bruises — and a 4-2 defeat.

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Brittany Mahomes jumps the gun, reveals NWSL title game will be in Kansas City

The Current co-owner looks to have spilled the beans a little early

The NWSL championship game will apparently be held in Kansas City this year, with the announcement coming from an unexpected source: Brittany Mahomes.

Mahomes, the co-founder of the Kansas City Current, appeared on SportsCenter on Saturday alongside her husband, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and fellow Current co-owner Patrick Mahomes.

The pair were marking the opening match at CPKC Stadium, the first stadium built specifically for a NWSL team, which the Current would go on to win 5-4 in a wild NWSL opener.

Not only will the first game of the NWSL season be held at the new venue, it appears the last game will too. Though the NWSL has not made any announcement, Brittany seemed to spill the beans during her appearance on SportsCenter.

Asked what a dream season for the Current would look like, she replied: “A championship, let’s go. Right here at home, we’re hosting it this year so to bring it home here would be awesome.”

The “announcement” looks to have been several months early, at least judging by last year. The NWSL did not announce that San Diego would host the 2023 championship game until July.

Will Swift attend a Current game?

The conversation would later turn to the prospect of pop megastar Taylor Swift potentially making it out to CPKC Stadium at some point this year.

Swift, of course, has been spending lots of time in Kansas City recently due to her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce. She has also struck up a friendship with Brittany while supporting Kelce on the field with the Super Bowl champions.

“We might get her here at some point,” Patrick said. “She’s a busy woman and Travis is a busy guy, so maybe during the season or something like that we’ll get her out to a KC Current game. She loves supporting Kansas City just like we do. I’m sure Brittany can nudge her and get her here pretty easily.”

Brittany agreed: “That’s definitely on me. I will work on it.”

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Pfeiffer becomes youngest NWSL scorer in bonkers KC Current stadium opener

reaking the record set by the Thorns’ Olivia Moultrie in 2022 by about five months.

The first game at CPKC Stadium was suitably insane.

Playing at home in the first stadium built specifically for a NWSL team, the Kansas City Current defeated the Portland Thorns 5-4 in a wild season-opening match on Saturday afternoon.

Vanessa DiBernardo became the first goalscorer in CPKC Stadium history in the 22nd minute, giving the Current the lead. Two minutes later, DiBernardo doubled the Current’s advantage.

New signing Bia Zaneratto made it three for the Current before Sophia Smith pulled one back for the Thorns just before the break.

Kansas City appeared to put the game to bed with two goals midway through the second half, with the second making NWSL history.

Alex Pfeiffer, at age 16 years, 3 months and 20 days, became the youngest goalscorer in NWSL history, breaking the record set by the Thorns’ Olivia Moultrie in 2022 by about five months.

After Pfeiffer’s history-making strike, the Thorns would mount a furious comeback that would see them nearly steal an improbable point. Another goal from Smith and a brace from Janine Beckie would make the Current’s stadium-opening win a narrow one.

Watch Pfeiffer’s history-making goal

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The Lo’eau LaBonta celebration is taking over the world

Everyone’s doing The Labonta!

Lo’eau LaBonta has officially started a worldwide craze.

Just over a year ago, the Kansas City Current midfielder scored a goal and followed that up with what we will awkwardly call the “fake a hamstring injury and quickly transition to a twerk” celebration.

LaBonta’s celebration was objectively fantastic, if not briefly concerning for Current fans. A year later, we can now also mark it as the beginning of a trend.

First, Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison did his own version of Labonta’s celebration, calling the midfielder “the inspiration” for his touchdown dance.

Fast forward to last month, when Mr. Taylor Swift himself, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce performed “The Labonta” on the practice field after returning from a knee injury.

On his podcast with his brother Jason of the Philadelphia Eagles, the Chiefs star said he “stole” the move from Labonta.

@newheightshow

Trav broke out all the moves at practice 🕺🏻

♬ original sound – New Heights

That brought us to this weekend’s Basque derby, in which Real Sociedad star Takefusa Kubo did his own Labonta tribute after scoring his side’s second in a 3-0 win over Athletic Club.

Labonta’s latest goal celebration probably won’t inspire a worldwide craze but hey, it was quite the hit nonetheless.

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NWSL Weekend Take-Off: Pure chaos takes hold as Portland Thorns retake league lead

Nothing is ever what it seems in the NWSL

Does anyone want to win the NWSL Shield this season?

That’s the question at this point, after first place exchanged hands yet again. In the last 11 rounds of games, we’ve woken up on Monday with a new team atop the table eight different times. The Portland Thorns’ triumph over Cascadia rivals OL Reign, coupled with the San Diego Wave stumbling against a Kansas City Current side that kicked off in last place, gave us yet another change in the race for the Shield.

Let’s take a quick look at this insightful video that explains how this entire season has felt.

The Thorns do appear to be this season’s “best” team, whether you approach it from the eyeball test, data, or results. Portland can hit heights no one else can hit, and have shaken off Sophia Smith’s injury thanks to Best XI candidate Morgan Weaver.

However, as impressive as the Thorns can be, there are only 11 points separating Portland from the Chicago Red Stars in 12th. A team that hasn’t won a regular season game since June has nonetheless stayed above the playoff line all season. There are three rounds of games to go, and no one has been eliminated or clinched a postseason berth.

NWSL chaos, never change.

Wave star Morgan fumes over ‘completely reckless’ tackle in Current defeat

Morgan said if she had planted her leg, she wouldn’t be walking today

San Diego Wave star Alex Morgan was furious over a no-call in her side’s 2-1 defeat to the Kansas City Current on Saturday, saying she wouldn’t be walking if she’d planted her leg on a challenge from defender Stine Ballisager.

With the Current up in first-half stoppage time, Morgan took the ball in on goal and attempted a cutback. Ballisager, sensing her chance to win the ball, slid in hard and took the ball and Morgan simultaneously. After a VAR check, the officials deemed the Danish international’s challenge to be clean.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Morgan vehemently disagreed.

“In what world is this not a penalty and red card, or even foul? Completely reckless and the leg going in for the tackle doesn’t even get a ball when I cut her?” she wrote. “Just glad I saw her coming and didn’t plant on that leg or I’d 100% not be walking today.”

Morgan would stay in the game but limped off the pitch at full time, with Wave manager Casey Stoney saying after the game she had no update on the star forward’s status.

The match also represented the latest scoreless outing for Morgan, who has now failed to find the net since May. Speaking to reporters, Stoney backed the U.S. women’s national team forward to turn things around.

“You don’t go from being a world-class striker to being a poor player overnight,” Stoney said. “She’s a fantastic player. She’s still a world-class striker and the goals will come. Her contributions this season for us have been magnificent even when she’s not scoring goals, so keeping her in a good space is important.”

Morgan won the NWSL Golden Boot last season by scoring 15 goals. This season, the 34-year-old has scored five times in NWSL play.

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NC Courage, Racing Louisville into 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup final

A long-standing contender and a first-time finalist will meet in Saturday’s Challenge Cup final

The battle for the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup is down to the North Carolina Courage and Racing Louisville.

North Carolina will host Saturday’s final, as both lower-seeded sides went on the road to win semifinals over the Kansas City Current and OL Reign, respectively.

Kickoff on Saturday is set for 12:30 p.m. ET. CBS will broadcast the game over the air, while Paramount+ is the streaming option.

North Carolina sealed a second straight home Challenge Cup final thanks to a dramatic 1-0 win at Children’s Mercy Park, where Brianna Pinto fired home a stoppage-time winner.

After largely dominating the first half, the Courage found the going more difficult as Kansas City — who started with an uncharacteristically conservative approach — started to high-press after the break.

That expansive change resulted in both teams finding golden looks. The Courage somehow survived a wild scramble in their goalmouth after a corner, with two Current shot attempts striking goalkeeper Casey Murphy while she was on the ground, and Narumi Miura — possibly the smallest player on the field — blocking a third.

At the other end, North Carolina couldn’t quite find the target from promising positions, with Kerolin, Tess Boade, and especially substitute Mille Gejl not able to produce a finish.

That set the stage for Pinto, whose energetic appearance off the bench was capped off with a goal on the turn six minutes into stoppage time.

On the west coast, a different sort of game played out. Laura Harvey understandably opted for a heavily-rotated side after playing Sunday night, while Louisville (benefitting from an extra day’s rest) came out close to full strength.

The Reign’s relatively unfamiliar lineup may have contributed to the concession of the first and only goal the team gave up in this Challenge Cup. It was simple stuff: Sam Hiatt’s misplaced pass went right to Kirsten Davis, who used a slick move to set up a pinpoint shot past goalkeeper Laurel Ivory.

Louisville could have possibly found a second, but as the game wore on OL Reign did everything but score. Chance after chance fell their way, perhaps none better than two normal starters (Emily Sonnett and Jordyn Huitema) linking up after a half-cleared ball into the box.

Sonnett’s delivery couldn’t have been better, but Huitema wasn’t able to snap the ball down past Katie Lund.

Louisville had to hang on for dear life, but through some blocks and grit, Racing has a shot at a first-ever trophy on Saturday.

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Smith the lone USWNT player on 30-woman Ballon d’Or shortlist

The Portland Thorns star is the only USWNT player nominated and one of just two NWSL players

Sophia Smith was the only U.S. women’s national team player and one of just two NWSL players on the 30-woman shortlist for the 2023 Ballon d’Or.

France Football released its list of nominees on Wednesday, with the winner to be announced at a ceremony in Paris on October 30.

Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas has won the award two straight times, and her international and club teammate Aitana Bonmatí is the heavy favorite to succeed her this year. Bonmatí led Barcelona to a domestic title and the Champions League, and also won the World Cup with Spain, taking home the Golden Ball as the tournament’s top player.

After Catarina Macario, Alex Morgan, and Trinity Rodman all made the 20-player shortlist last year, Smith is the only USWNT player nominated this time around, after she won the NWSL MVP with the Portland Thorns and U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year in 2022.

Kansas City Current and Brazil star Debinha is the only other NWSL player on this year’s 30-player shortlist.

Here is the full list of the 2023 Ballon d’Or nominees.

NWSL Weekend Take-Off: Playoff race tension grows after Racing Louisville, Angel City both win

No team can ever relax in the NWSL

The NWSL is built to ensure late-season drama.

There’s no other conclusion to reach after another weekend that could have blown the standings wide open instead drew the entire table closer together. For the second time in recent weeks, the schedule set things up for the top six to largely push the bottom six adrift. Four of the six games over the weekend paired a team in a playoff position up against a team on the outside looking in.

And just like last time, the results largely skewed towards a tighter, more tense race. Racing Louisville and Angel City FC got big wins to keep pace, the Washington Spirit had a surprising stumble at home, and the only match between teams in playoff position ended up somehow being a bonkers 3-3 draw.

With four games to play, the gap from top to bottom is only 11 points. The teams in seventh and eighth are within six points of first. If you pull up Google’s NWSL standings and look over at the “last five” column, you’ll see more red X images signaling a loss for the teams in the top six (12) than in the bottom six (eight).

The seatbelt sign for this NWSL season should be flashing, because we’re about to have a turbulent landing.