Peter Aiken | USA TODAY Sports activities
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — From chopping the ribbon underneath an elaborate balloon arch to popping bottles of champagne within the VIP part after the match, Saturday’s house opener at CPKC Stadium was a rousing success for the Kansas Metropolis Present and the Nationwide Girls’s Soccer League.
CPKC Stadium, which welcomed a capability crowd of 11,500 excited followers, is the brand-new house of the Present. It is usually one of the few purpose-built women’s soccer stadiums within the nation. And people followers have been in for a deal with, as Kansas Metropolis defeated longtime rival Portland Thorns FC 5-4.
“Now that we’ve gained, I’m glad for the three factors, however I’m a lot happier in regards to the stadium, the ambiance, the second as a result of that is one thing that can change the world of ladies’s soccer,” Kansas Metropolis coach Vlatko Andonovski mentioned.
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Beginning hours earlier than kickoff, which was scheduled for 12 p.m. CT, there have been 1000’s of followers ready exterior of the stadium. Adorned in teal and pink, they anxiously awaited the chance to see their workforce take the pitch. Many ready to stroll the concourse for the primary time.
Season-ticket holders have been invited to an occasion the earlier weekend, the place they may tour the stadium, however in any other case, followers had solely pushed by, peering from the Bond Bridge or scouting out their route on the Riverfront Heritage Path.
Followers who gathered by the primary entrance have been handled to an look from two of essentially the most highly effective {couples} within the metropolis in co-owners, Angie and Chris Long, and Brittany and Patrick Mahomes. Mayor Quinton Lucas was additionally available for a ceremonial ribbon chopping.
Earlier than the primary kick, there was a quick efficiency by Kansas Metropolis rapper Tech N9ne, who led the gang in an echoing chant “KCMO, Oooo Ohhh.” Then, half homeowners Brittany and Patrick [who you might recognize as the Chiefs’ 2024 Super Bowl–winning quarterback] led the signature “KC Babyyyyy” cheer to additional ignite the gang.
The NWSL commissioner, Jessica Berman, was additionally there, celebrating the league’s newest development.
“It’s a lot greater than I anticipated, Berman mentioned throughout a fast halftime assembly with the media. “We’ve been saying, ‘In case you construct it, they are going to come’ internally, after which coming right here and really seeing what it means to truly put money into brick and mortar, bodily infrastructure, it’s a game-changer. And so they have modified the footprint of town perpetually. And, yeah, I believe it’ll have a good larger impression than anybody can think about.”
The stadium sits alongside the Missouri River in Kansas Metropolis’s Riverfront district. Till now, the area has served as a public park, internet hosting occasions like KC Delight Fest simply north of downtown.
Finally, there’s a plan to construct a whole leisure district across the stadium and add a cease to the streetcar route, making it simpler to entry on recreation days, which is able to embody the Massive 12 girls’s soccer match in 2024 and 2025, as convention commissioner Brett Yormark introduced on the girls’s basketball match final weekend. It might additionally turn out to be an attention-grabbing worth proposition with Kansas Metropolis internet hosting FIFA males’s World Cup matches in 2026.
“I don’t suppose one one that was right here within the stadium is just not going to wish to be again for the following recreation, and so they’re gonna inform extra folks,” Kansas Metropolis ahead Lo’eau LaBonta mentioned. “Everyone seems to be gonna wish to come now as a result of that was a present.”
Andonovski has an attention-grabbing perspective on town’s growth, having coached the earlier NWSL franchise FCKC from 2013 to 2017. He gained two NWSL titles with that squad earlier than transferring to Seattle Reign FC and the U.S. girls’s nationwide workforce. His tenure with FCKC truly included the league’s first-ever recreation, on April 13, 2013, when Portland and Kansas Metropolis performed to a 1-1 draw at a highschool area within the Kansas Metropolis suburbs.
“It’s fully totally different worlds,” Andonovski mentioned. “Clearly, that was an enormous day as nicely for the league, however now to open up the season with one thing like that is so wonderful.”
By way of the match, Kansas Metropolis couldn’t have scripted a a lot better begin.
Vanessa DiBernardo broke by way of and scored the primary objective within the twenty second minute. Debinha had the primary shot, however Portland goalkeeper Shelby Hogan blocked it. The ball went rolling throughout the objective line to DiBernardo, who buried the shot.
Debinha almost discovered the online within the twenty fifth however arrange Ellie Wheeler’s first profession objective moments later. Her contended header rolled away from the objective line, discovering Wheeler’s proper foot.
“It was a surreal second,” Wheeler mentioned. “After I noticed the ball bounce within the field and I knew I used to be going to get there, my mind was going loopy, however on the similar time, I’m telling myself to be calm and simply put it at the back of the following like I’ve achieved tons of of instances.”
She added with fun, “After which I used to be swarmed.”
One of many solely low factors of the match was Debinha’s exit within the thirty second minute with a hamstring damage. Kristen Hamilton changed her. Debinha, a Brazilian nationwide who led the Present with 9 objectives in 2023, is present process additional analysis this week.
Bia Zaneratto prolonged the Present lead within the thirty fourth minute, and Portland’s younger star Sophia Smith put the Thorns on the board. Halfway by way of the second half, the Present went on one other run, with Hamilton scoring within the sixty fourth minute and Alex Pfeiffer scoring within the 68th off an help from Temwa Chawinga. With that objective, Pfeiffer turned the youngest in league historical past to attain.
“That was a second inside a second,” Andonovski mentioned. “It’s large for any participant in her era. She proved that it’s potential.”
Portland went on a late run with two objectives from Janine Beckie, who was returning to the pitch for the primary time in three hundred and sixty six days after having sustained an ACL damage, and yet another from Smith. Nonetheless, the rally fell brief.
“We’ve a lot to be taught nonetheless about one another and recreation administration and the way we wish to play as a workforce, however the truth that we checked the primary field, it’s onto the following one,” LaBonta mentioned.
