The Kansas City Current has yet to lose a game this season.
The club's latest victory, a 4-1 rout of the Portland Thorns on Sunday afternoon at Providence Park, also returned the Current to the top of the National Women's Soccer League standings.
The Orlando Pride won 6-0 on Friday to take first place in the NWSL on goal difference. But Sunday's blowout at Oregon put KC back in the lead with a 9-5-0 record.
The current players, coaches and support staff were on their way to Portland, aboard a flight, during Orlando's impressive shutout.
โToday it wasn't our goal to put that many goals in the net,โ current midfielder Lo LaBonta said. โWe always focus on the first. But then (the goals) kept coming and he felt great.โ
The Current's 14-game unbeaten streak this season surpasses a 13-game streak the club achieved in 2022. The team's record during the 2022 streak was 9-4-0, with a plus-9 goal differential; During this streak, KC's goal differential is plus-17.
Including the end of the 2023 season, Corriente is unbeaten in its last 16 competitive matches. To say it's a start that coach Vlatko Andonovski saw coming would be a stretch.
"To be honest, I didn't think what the results, the score or the standings would be after 14 games into the season," Andonovski said. "But I certainly had an idea of โโwhat I wanted the team to look like midseason, at the end of the season (and) in the playoffs...
โI still feel like there are things we can do better and we will continue to work on them. โIโm just happy where we are right now.โ
LaBonta opened the scoring in the 30th minute of Sunday's match, launching a header behind her from close range. The header was a redirection of a shot initially aimed by her teammate Temwa Chawinga.
Stine Ballisager Pederson cleaned up a loose ball in the box and scored in the 38th minute to double Current's lead, and LaBonta made it 3-0 in the 40th minute with a strong shot from outside the box into the top corner.
Andonovski said he was very happy with Ballisager's goal. She is the last center back on the squad to score a goal this season.
โIn training they joked that she is the only center back on the team who hasn't scored a goal,โ the coach said. "So here it is. Now we have completed that task."
Chawinga scored KC's final goal with an incredible individual effort in the 47th minute. Controlling a long pass from the Current penalty area, she faced three Thorns defenders alone, running into the Portland penalty area before shooting and scoring.
Portland got its only goal in the 73rd minute when Sophia Smith scored her 10th of the season.
The current players weren't overwhelmed by the electric atmosphere at Providence Park, thanks in large part to their own raucous atmosphere at CPKC Stadium.
โIt's never easy playing in Portland anyway,โ Andonovski said. โBut it's certainly easier if you're used to the crowd noise and the pressure. It makes it easier".
LaBonta hopes to see more crowds like that around the league.
โPortland was the first stadium and the first team that set the tone for creating this incredible atmosphere and atmosphere, and then Kansas City took notice and we're doing the same thing,โ he said. "So if it's going to be the norm for the entire league now, it's going to be awesome."
The Current will look to extend their unbeaten streak to 17 games on Friday night, hosting the Houston Dash at CPKC Stadium.
Daniel Sperry it covers soccer for La Estrella. He can be contacted at Sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.
