Renae Cuellar scored the opening FC Kansas City goal in a 6-2 preseason win over Missouri. (Photo Copyright Thad Bell for www.womens.soccerly.com | http://www.tpbphoto.com/)
FC Kansas City took the field as a team for the first time Tuesday when they traveled to scrimmage the University of Missouri. The “Blues” showed they have the firepower when they scored four in the first half on their way to a 6-2 victory. The first goal in club history was scored by forward Renae Cueller after just arriving the day before from duty with the Mexican national team.
Cueller started up top with Kristie Mewis on the left , Courtney Jones on the right and Sinead Farrelly attacking from the midfield to put a lot of pressure on Missouri’s defense.
FC Kansas City keeper Bianca Henninger did not practice the first week, which likely accounted for Missouri getting on the board. The back line of Leigh Ann Robinson, Lauren Sesselmann, Nia Williams and Katie Kelly played well for the most part, allowing only a few chances. Jen Buczkowski and Desiree Scott rounded out the midfield.
“It was a great opportunity to get out there and see where we are at, a great opportunity for me to see and evaluate individual strengths and weaknesses in a game situation,” Blues head coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “Overall to put players into positions where they feel comfortable and to play a great opponent like Missouri was altogether a great event.”
National Team players
The allocated players from the various national teams are starting to arrive. Sesselmann and Scott just came in from playing with the Canadian national team at the Cyprus Cup. Cueller also just arrived, she scored twice for Mexico at the Algarve Cup.
Despite just arriving and not having much time with her new teammates, Sesselmann was happy to be on the pitch for her new club.
“Amazing, it was so much fun to be out there today,” she said. “It was great to see the members of the team and the talent level we have on the team. I think we are going to do really well this year; I’m excited at what I saw today.”
The allocated players from the United States national team (Becky Sauerbrunn, Nicole Barnhart and Lauren Cheney) had not arrived yet. U.S. players around the league had not reported for training yet due to the new collective bargaining agreement being finalized late Tuesday, but with that out of the way and finalized, players are free to report to NWSL training camps. FC Kansas City coaches said they expected the U.S. players to arrive Wednesday. A possible exception is Lauren Cheney who is still with her family taking care of personal business.
Diaz not joining FC Kansas City
FC Kansas City joins most of the rest of the league in losing an allocated player. The team was informed by the Mexican federation that defender Marylin Diaz would not be joining the team. No more information has been revealed as to why.
Jersey unveiling and sponsor
The “Blues” are holding a press conference Wednesday afternoon to unveil their jerseys and jersey sponsor.
