Sky Blue FC has held the first position in the National Women’s Soccer League standings for most of the season. On Wednesday,
by defeating the visiting Boston Breakers, FC Kansas City assumed that
position. Eager to hold onto their lead, FC Kansas City first had to
endure a lengthy travel delay yesterday and another lengthy delay before
kickoff due to lightning surrounding the field of play. Once the teams
kicked off, nearly 90 minutes after the scheduled time, FC Kansas City
came out strong. Holding possession for nearly the entire half, they
managed five shots on goal, but none of them could find their way past
Sky Blue goalkeeper, Brittany Cameron.
Cameron
and FC Kansas City goalkeeper, Nicole Barnhart, lead the league in many
statistical categories thanks to their superior play and solid defense
from their back lines. Barnhart was on top of her game tonight. Sky
Blue managed five solid shots on goal, but she was up to the task on all
of them. Her counterpart, Cameron, was nearly as solid. However, in
the 76th minute, Lauren Holiday sent an in-swinging corner
kick right towards the center of the goal. Courtney Jones leapt in
front of the rushing Cameron to knock home the goal. On June 26th,
Sky Blue found themselves down to FC Kansas City, but scored two goals
in the final minutes to salvage a draw. Hoping for some more late
heroics, they pushed the play towards the KC end several times in the
final minutes. This time, the Blues were ready for the onslaught and
held onto the lead through the final whistle.
The win keeps FC Kansas City on top of the NWSL standings, four points ahead of Sky Blue FC and the Portland Thorns. They face off against the Thorns in Portland next Sunday, August 4th at 7:30p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel and fans are invited to catch it at the Official Watch Party home, Futbol Club KC. The team does not return home until the final game of the regular season, August 18th at 3:10p.m. against the Chicago Red Stars.
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