KC Current beat Houston Dash before record crowd in Texas. It took a fantastic finish

The Kansas City Current suited up for the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs for the first time Sunday afternoon, taking on the Houston Dash before an announced attendance that topped 21,000.

The bulk of those fans went home frustrated after a Kate Del Fava goal in the 10th minute of stoppage time lifted the Current to a 2-1 victory.

Per Stats Perform’s Twitter account, at 99:32, Del Fava’s winner was the latest non-extra time goal in NWSL history — regular season or playoffs. The attendance itself was another record: 21,284 marked a new high-water mark for an NWSL playoff game.

The match featured an early goal from both sides — a fifth-minute penalty kick from KC’s Lo LaBonta and 21st-minute equalizer by Houston’s Sophie Schmidt — but then it settled into a battle of wills.

“When you have two teams so equally matched, there was going to be a game of fine margins,” Current coach Matt Potter said. “It took somebody who was willing to do the work when it was really easy not to.”

That person was Del Fava, the Current’s “Iron Woman,” as she was dubbed by Bonta after the game. While it was a joke at first, there’s truth behind it: Del Fava is the only player on the KC roster to have appeared in all 22 NWSL regular-season matches through the Current’s two years of existence.

Oh, and her goal? It just so happened to be the first of her pro career, and it may not have happened if she hadn’t moved out of her traditional role as the Current’s wing-back.

Current midfielder Claire Lavogez had to come off in the 51st minute when she landed awkwardly after being fouled. Preliminary reports were that it was a right-knee injury. Her injury and necessary subsequent treatment certainly played a role in Sunday’s nine minutes of stoppage time — no question — enabling Del Fava to be in position to score.

But why did Del Fava, a defender, find herself so high up the field?

The Current initially brought on Elyse Bennett, a forward, for Lavogez. But that left the midfield too open, so Potter eventually sent in Izzy Rodriguez. Her addition shuffled the back line a bit and saw Del Fava move out of her wing-back role and into the midfield, allowing her to be higher upfield at just the right moment.

“The formation change, I think, was a good tactical decision,” Del Fava said. “It allowed us to get numbers a little higher on the field and put ourselves in good situations.”

When the Dash misplayed a pass out of the back, the Current moved the ball quickly into the box. Rookie Alex Loera played it across the box to a wide-open Del Fava.

Goal. Game over.

With the victory, the Current will remain on the road next week. KC heads to Seattle to play the OL Reign Sunday (game time 6:30 p.m. Central) in the league semifinals.

Houston put four of 16 shots on target through the first 90 minutes Sunday, KC two of just three. Current goalkeeper AD Franch made three crucial saves, including a 1-v-1 stop on Michelle Alozie halfway through stoppage time to keep it even at 1-1.

“AD is up for (NWSL) goalkeeper of the year just because she continues to pull out saves like that for us,” LaBonta said. “We’ve got a wall with our back three, and we’ve got a wall with AD.”

LaBonta opened the scoring after Kristen Hamilton was brought down clumsily inside the penalty box. LaBonta, who scored five of her seven goals from the penalty spot during the regular season, calmly put the ball into the net as Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell dove the wrong way.

The Houston Dash equalized roughly fifteen minutes later after Franch cleared out a corner kick. The clearance didn’t get outside of the 18-yard box, and Schmidt was able to turn on it and fire off a powerful volley.