Boston Breakers Defeat FC Kansas City at Jordan Stadium
The final two winless teams in the NWSL met on Sunday as Boston Breakers came out of the weekend with its first win against FC Kansas City. Whitney Engen scored the lone goal for Boston to give the club its first win under Matt Beard as they prepare to take on WNY Flash this Friday.
Soccer News: Boston Breakers welcomed FC Kansas City to Jordan Field on Sunday as both teams looked to get its first win of the 2016 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season. Boston Breakers recorded a 1-0 victory over FC Kansas City that makes the two-time defending champions now 0-4-2 on the season.
Defender Whitney Engen put Boston on the board in the 19th minute off a corner kick sent in from Kristie Mewis. The goal marked the Breakers’ first of the season to help the club get its first league victory under head coach Matt Beard.
“It was a relief to get the goal and a relief to get the win because now we can actually enjoy the football,” said Beard.
In the 36th minute, Boston goalkeeper Libby Stout came charging out of the box making a diving save to maintain the advantage. Stout finished with four saves on the night to give Boston the shutout.
Boston almost doubled its lead in the final minutes of the first half as Mewis sent a ball in from 35 yards out that Katie Schoepfer headed over the crossbar.
In the 67th minute, Schoepfer found herself with another opportunity when Kyah Simon sent in a ball over the top. Schoepfer and FC Kansas City goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart crashed in on the ball deflecting the rebound to Simon who struck it wide.
When asked about the development of the goal, Engen stated:
“We worked on it in training yesterday and we were focusing on the back post. Mewis served a gorgeous ball and it kind of got lost in the sun. It just appeared, and I stuck it in the back of the net.”
New Zealand international Katie Bowen recorded her first start of the season for FC Kansas City after being selected in the 2016 NWSL College Draft from the University of North Carolina.
FC Kansas City will return home to host the Orlando Pride at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Blues will be without U.S. Women’s National Team members Becky Sauerbrunn and Heather O’Reilly, who were called to prepare for a set of matches against Japan.
Boston travels to face Western New York Flash on Friday, May 27, then return home the following week to matchup against the league-leading Washington Spirit.
Photo Credit: ISI Photos
