KC Current fall to Racing Louisville for second time this week, and this time at home

The Kansas City Current faced a halftime deficit for the fourth straight match, and for the fourth straight match they failed to mount a comeback.

Savannah DeMelo scored her third goal against Kansas City in four days as the Current fell 2-0 to Racing Louisville on Saturday— the KC team’s second loss to the National Women’s Soccer League club from Kentucky in less than a week.

And unlike Wednesday’s 3-2 NWSL Challenge Cup decision, in which DeMelo scored twice, this one came at home for the Current (2-6-0) — Children’s Mercy Park.

“We’re disappointed,” said interim Current head coach Caroline Sjöblom. “The overall performance today wasn’t good enough.”

DeMelo scored in the 12th minute Saturday and teammate Kirsten Davis added the visitors’ second in the 27th.

KC took 18 shots and put six on target but couldn’t find the back of the net. The Current brought out the strongest lineup they could muster against Louisville, but it didn’t change the outcome.

Sjöblom said she believes her players are pressing, either after conceding a goal or in trying to create another chance after a missed one.

“I think it’s more the mental part of it that our players up there want to score too much,” Sjöblom said. “I think we need to do one more pass — we need to keep the quality in the process.”

She said she wanted to see more crosses on the ground instead of in the air.

“We need to connect more passes and find spaces, and threaten the space behind,” Sjöblom said. “I think we just need to be ‘cooler’ around the penalty box.”

As has been customary, the Current were dangerous in the attacking possession. But sloppy play in the middle third led to multiple opportunities for the Racing Louisville on the counter.

The first goal mirrored many others that Kansas City has conceded in recent weeks. It included a mistake in the Current’s defensive third. Croix Soto’s soft back pass to Cassie Miller led to a failed clearance that struck DeMelo.

The Louisville player had an empty net in front of her and did not miss.

Fifteen minutes later the Current were caught with numbers forward and a 2v1 led to a wide-open chance for Davis.

Kristen Hamilton made her return to the pitch on Saturday night. It was her first appearance of 2023. While happy to be back, she noted a trend that she’s seen in the Current’s recent string of losses.

“A lot of other team’s goals come right after we have chances to score,” she said. “That’s on us to put those chances away.”

The Current will host the Houston Dash next Friday.