FC Kansas City Gets First Win of the Season

From FC Kansas City

FC Kansas City earned their first victory of the season tonight, defeating the visiting Chicago Red Stars 1-0. Amy Rodriguez scored her team-leading third goal of the season to lead the Blues to the win.

After suffering a disappointing loss last weekend against the Portland Thorns, it was very important for Vlatko Andonovski’s squad to get off to a fast start. Forward Amy Rodriguez was up to the task. It only took nine minutes for her to add to her team-leading scoring total.

Midfielder Jen Buczkowski worked her way down the right side of the field, gaining a step on her defender. As she neared the byline, drawing the defense and Red Stars goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc towards her, she neatly put a cross into the middle of the box where Rodriguez was waiting for the easy tap-in score.

The rest of the half belonged to Kansas City. They worked the ball all around the field, looking for the right opportunities. On the night, FC Kansas City outshot the Red Stars 14-9, eight of them on goal.

The second half saw more action for Chicago as they pressed for the score. The Red Stars inserted Alyssa Mautz in the second half lineup, hoping to try and generate more offense, but the FC Kansas City defense was up to the task.

FC Kansas City made late half substitutions in a move to solidify their defense and preserve the win. Lauren Holiday, Francis Silva and Erika Tymrak each gave way to Liz Bogus, Merritt Mathias and Morgan Marlborough.

At the end of the night, Rodriguez’s score would hold up as the home side claimed the 1-0 victory.

FC Kansas City travels to Houston on Saturday for a 7:00p.m. CT match against the NWSL’s newest team. The next game in Kansas City will be Sunday, March 11 at 6:00p.m. CT against the Washington Spirit.