FCKC Draw in Top of Table Clash

FC Kansas City  (11-6-5 38pts) battled to a 1-1 draw with Seattle Reign FC (15-1-5 50pts) tonight in front of 3,029 fans at Verizon Wireless Field. Amy Rodriguez scored the first goal of the night then Megan Rapinoe took credit for Seattle’s goal.

Rodriguez started the night off with an explosive goal in the 6^th minute. Lauren Holiday carried the ball in to the attacking third and found a running Rodriguez. Kansas City’s leading scorer fired off a shot at Hope Solo; she just missed the save for Rodriguez’s 12^th goal.  The Blues were up 1-0 early in the match.

A second goal almost came in the 29^th minute for FC Kansas City. Holiday took pressure from the defense but then sent the ball across the net. Sarah Hagen made a run towards the net to tap the ball in, but it rolled out before Hagen could get to it.

In the 35^th minute an awkward spinning ball found its way back to Hagen. After controlling the ball, she sent it across the box to Rodriguez who slipped. The ball kept rolling and Erika Tymrak ran up to take a shot, the ball bounced to the post where Solo scooped it up.

The rest of the first half was rather quiet and the teams took a break with the Blues up 1-0. FC Kansas City outshot Seattle Reign FC 8-1 in the first 45 minutes. 5 of the Blues’ 8 shots were directly on target while Seattle’s one was not.

In the 65^th minute, a dangerous play broke out for Seattle Reign FC. Sydney Leroux tried to redirect a rocket of a pass to the goal. She slid then fell on the turf and the ball rolled just wide to safety.

Seattle found an equalizer in the 68^th minute from Rapinoe. A shot from Leroux was deflected and bounced around in the box. Rapinoe collected the ball and shot again, this one made it past Nicole Barnhart to tie the score 1-1.

After a no call foul in the box against Hagen, she came back on the next play hungry for revenge. Hagen saw an opening and started running to the goal, Tymrak passed the ball and Hagen fired off a shot. Solo was in the perfect position to stop the shot and keep the score tied.

Reign FC pushed offensively trying to find a game-winning goal. In the final minutes of the game, Seattle dominated the ball in the box putting Kansas City’s defense to work. The Blues’ backline held strong and kept the ball out of the net, the game would end with both sides at one.

Though FC Kansas City was the clear offensive leader in the first half, Seattle came back to make the final shot tally 13-12 in favor of the Blues. World-class goalkeepers Barnhart and Solo were put to the test tonight. Barnhart had 3 saves while Solo had 9.