Photo by Amy Kontras/NWSL via Getty Images/Kansas City Current
In this week’s edition of Anatomy of a Goal, we’re zooming in on Kansas City’s match against the Denver Summit. There was no shortage of goals in this one, as the Current trampled the Summit by a 4-1 scoreline.
Though Denver scored an early goal thanks to none other than hometown hero – and captain – Lindsey Heaps, Kansas City tallied four unanswered goals on their way to the win. Let’s break down their fourth and final score.
The goal sequence starts at the touchline, at the feet of Izzy Rodriguez. Rodriguez plays Kayla Sharples, who sees Haley Hopkins checking toward the ball with a Denver player right on her back.
Hopkins loses the challenge, but the ball returns to the feet of Sharples, who ultimately beats two players to find Hopkins again. Hopkins lets the ball run across her body, picks up her head, and plays Bayley Feist, who is right in the center of the park.
Now the fun starts.
Feist takes a couple of touches, and then finds Vanessa DiBernardo, who is standing right near the penalty arc with her back to goal. A cheeky backheel pass finds the feet of Temwa Chawinga. Chawinga uses one touch to beat both Summit centerbacks before hitting the ball on frame. The shot takes a deflection before it finds the back of the net.
Almost immediately, the Denver backline looks for an offside call, which actually never comes. VAR called for a review, but the referee decided Chawinga was onside — which seemed like the right call given the angles that were shown on the broadcast (and shown below).
In any case, this was a huge win for the Current. It extended their home (regular season) unbeaten streak to 30 games and launched them back into the playoff picture after a disappointing 2-0 loss at the hands of the San Diego Wave the week prior. With four games left to play – and two of those being on the road, where this team has struggled all season – Kansas City is a team we should be keeping an eye on.
