Louisville 2 Kansas City 1 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy EM Dash Photography
Louisville overcame some unfortunate things that didn’t go their way to earn all 3 points at home against Kansas City. The Current came in on a mini win streak but didn’t really look any better than the team that Louisville had beaten fairly easily twice already this season. Louisville’s players looked comfortable and composed all match and didn’t panic when they fell behind early. There was a confidence to the performance that you wish they could carry over to use against more teams where prior history isn’t on their side.
After the match Björkegren was asked about how the team handled going behind early. In his remarks he shared that he told the team that this was a “must win” match. I agree with that, but sometimes that can make you play a little nervy. Coach Kim also shared that he wasn’t pleased at all with the first 10 minutes of the match. If Louisville had any nerves during the match, it showed here. The usually calm Erceg hastily cleared the ball and caused Jae to defend herself with her arm for the penalty. It looked to me like she had a bit more time to clear it. Fischer struggled a little in defense early too, with Björkegren bellowing her name while on defense at least once. Once the penalty was converted, it was one-way traffic for virtually the rest of the match.
On overturned goal, I thought the goal was ruled out due to a handball. At one point, I heard there was a foul called. On the replay I could see that Pikkujämsä might have impeded Franch, but that was almost undetectable in real time. Louisville’s official recap stated that the goal was ruled offside which is also completely plausible. Whichever way it wasn’t a goal, it was ruled not a goal on the field. I think everyone can live with that, but I can tell you what didn’t happen. The touchline official didn’t raise his flag, and least not immediately after the action. It looks like the officials were in constant communication with each other and they probably got the call right. My complaint is that for the second time in two matches, the officials haven’t used the generally recognized signals to let the fans know what is happening. When the linesman raises his flag for a foul or an offside, I tend to catch it as do the more knowledgeable fans. Nobody in the stadium seemed to know what was going with the call. First and foremost the officials should get the call right. However, I believe that they also have a duty to the fans to at least let us know what is going on even if we don’t agree with it. It wasn’t as bizarre as the alleged one-handed signally of advantage during the Reign match, but it did impact the fan experience.
The rest of the match was fairly smooth sailing for Louisville as they had loads of chances and were able to convert on 2 of their 26 shots. Monaghan’s goal was a strike worthy of winning any match. Pikkujämsä’s goal was what happens when you are in the right place at the right time. Fischer and Wang both had 6 shots with Fischer having the best of those chances. On the defensive side, Louisville once again played “keep away” and the Current didn’t have that many meaningful touches in Louisville’s half after Monaghan’s goal.
I doubt that we will hear many complaints about the substitutions in this match, but Björkegren stuck to his substitution pattern of Goins on for Davis around the 60th minute, then leaving the rest up to what he sees in real time. Kansas City put on plenty of “fresh legs” but they didn’t change the match in my eyes. I maintain it matters who you sub on and off and not just that you make a bunch of substitutions. Obviously, hindsight is the best way to evaluate substitutions, but I don’t think Coach Kim will listen to the noise about how he substitutes.
The midfield of Howell, Baggett, and Fischer had a much better second outing and were able to control the midfield for large portions of the match. Howell did a terrific job of monitoring play from the back and keeping the Current midfield on their back foot. Baggett had a really good box-to-box match and Fischer was involved in the attack all night. Madalyn Pokorny made her debut coming on for Fischer and put in an impressive 8 minutes.
Louisville will have a week off now, so I will take one too. The caveat is that with the transfer window open if news breaks, I might have something to say about the arrivals or departures.
