KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A sunny, 70-degree day in March, a sold-out crowd of 11,500, and a 2-1 KC Current win over the Utah Royals sounds like a pretty good season-opening game.
It also marked a pretty solid start to the Chris Armas era in Kansas City.
“Opening days are so exciting. And it’s easy to see that, it’s easy to feel the energy of what opening day means to our fans. That was clear,” the new Current head coach said after the win.
Midfielder Croix Bethune, who the Current acquired in a million dollar trade last month, wasted no time proving why she was worth the funds in her Kansas City debut. KC entered halftime down 1-0, then she netted the second half equalizer off an assist from Kayla Sharples to fire the crowd back up.
Saturday also happened to be Bethune’s birthday.
“I’m so happy that she got the goal in her first game, her debut, on her birthday. It’s a pretty incredible story there,” Sharples said.
Ally Sentnor scored the go-ahead goal a bit later, marking her first goal since joining the Current last year, sealing a KC Baby win.
“It was amazing to score and especially the fans make it even better,” Sentnor said about the moment.
Her coach had a glowing review as well.
“To get the goal, for her it’s probably a really big reward, besides the win,” Coach Armas said. “She scores, she scores on the debut, she plays really well, and it’s against her old team.”
After having the best regular season in NWSL history last year, but ending things with a first round playoff exit, this squad is determined to change the ending of their story this season.
“It’s never as easy as you want it to be. But on these days you also learn a lot about who you are. And this is a different KC Current team. It’s the 2026 version,” said Coach Armas. “So today, I learned, we learned, we still are a really gritty team, we have really good attackers, we have depth. Going down a goal and coming back was a really good sign for this team.”
Back-to-back Golden Boot Award winner and League MVP Temwa Chawinga did not play on Saturday due to a hip injury. Team captain Lo’eau Labonta was also out with a knee injury.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.