Vanessa DiBernardo scored the first goal for Kansas City in their new stadium and the Current held on to a 5-4 win over the Portland Thorns on Saturday in the National Women’s Soccer League regular season opener.
Debinha’s rebound shot was deflected off Thorns goalkeeper Shelby Hogan and fell to DiBernardo, who scored in the 22nd minute. Rookie Ellie Wheeler scored moments later and the Current built a 3-1 lead by halftime.
Bia Zaneratto, Kristen Hamilton and Alex Pfeiffer added goals for the Current. Sophia Smith and Janine Beckie each had a pair of goals for the Thorns.
The Current was injured in the 32nd minute when Debinha, a finalist for last year’s MVP award, left the match with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
It was the first game at CPKC Stadium, which the team said is the first U.S. stadium built specifically for women’s soccer. The privately funded $120 million facility is located on the banks of the Missouri River and can accommodate 11,500 people.
Saturday’s match was sold out. It was also the first NWSL game to air on ABC as part of the league’s new media rights deal. The NWSL signed a new broadcast deal worth $60 million per year that will see the league’s games appear on ESPN networks, CBS Sports, Amazon Prime Video and Scripps Sports.
Hamilton and Pfeiffer added goals in the second half to extend the Current’s lead to 5-1. But Portland rallied with Beckie’s goal in the 71st minute and Smith’s second in the 74th. Beckie’s second came in stoppage time.
The Current won their first match under Vlatko Andonovski, the former US national team coach who also coached at FC Kansas City, a founding member of the league that played from 2013 to 2017.
Andonovski also coached for two seasons with the Reign before taking over the U.S. National Team. He parted ways with the team following the US’s exit from the Women’s World Cup last year.
Brittany and Patrick Mahomes, part of the Current’s ownership group, started the game with a “KC, baby!” to sing.