2013 FC Kansas City season

The 2013 season was FC Kansas City's first season of existence, in which they competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top division of women's soccer in the United States.

FC Kansas City

2013 season
Owner	Brian Budzinski Chris Likens Brad Likens Greg Likens
Head coach	Vlatko Andonovski
Stadium	Shawnee Mission District Stadium
NWSL	2nd
NWSL Playoffs	Semifinals
Top goalscorer	Lauren Cheney (12)
Highest home attendance	6,784 (Apr 13 vs. POR)
Lowest home attendance	3,057 (Jun 23 vs. WAS)
Average home league attendance	4,604
Biggest win	3–0 (Jul 24 vs. BOS)
Biggest defeat	1–3 (Jun 16 vs. CHI)
Home colors Away colors Third colors
2014 →

Background

See also: National Women's Soccer League § Founding

On January 11, 2013, FC Kansas City announced a new logo,^[1] which would remain the club's logo until its dissolution in 2017. The team was the league's first to unveil its kits in March, using the same standard templates as the rest of the league in blue, white, and black colors. Overland Park-based Title Boxing Club sponsored the fronts of the shirts.^[2]

Summary

See also: 2013 National Women's Soccer League season

Founding

In November 2012, it was confirmed that a Kansas City-based women's professional soccer team had been accepted into a new women's professional soccer league, later named National Women's Soccer League.^[3] The KC ownership group was composed of Chris Likens, his two sons Brad and Greg Likens, and Brian Budzinski, the same owners of the Missouri Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League.^[4][5]

Preseason transactions

On January 14, 2013, as part of the NWSL Player Allocation, Nicole Barnhart (USA), Lauren Cheney (USA), Renae Cuéllar (MEX), Marylin Diaz (MEX), Becky Sauerbrunn (USA), Desiree Scott (CAN), and Lauren Sesselmann (CAN) were named to the team.^[6][7][8][9]

On January 18, the team selected Kristie Mewis, Erika Tymrak, Whitney Berry, and Nia Williams in the 2013 NWSL College Draft.^{[10] [11]} The team signed Sinead Farrelly, Jen Buczkowski, and Leigh Ann Robinson as free agents.^[12]

During the February 7 Supplemental Draft, the Blues selected Courtney Jones, Bianca Henninger, Merritt Mathias, Casey Nogueira, Tina DiMartino, and Casey Berrier.^[13]

FC Kansas City held open tryouts in February, calling back nine players to be amateur reserves of the 65 who attended: forward Gisela Arrieta, goalkeeper Colleen Boyd, forward Ariana Calderon, defender Natalie Carter, midfielder Molly Dreska, midfielder Jaime French, defender Natalie Norris, forward Andrea Rodriguez, and midfielder Vendula Strnadova.^[14]

Regular season

On April 13, 2013, FC Kansas City hosted Portland Thorns FC in the first regular-season match in NWSL history. In the 3rd minute of the match, Renae Cuéllar scored the first goal in the histories of both FC Kansas City and the NWSL. The match drew a sellout crowd of 6,784 and ended in a 1–1 draw.^[15][16]

Due to the search for suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, the Boston Breakers were unable to travel to Kansas City for their scheduled match against Kansas City on April 19, resulting in a postponement.^[17] Kansas City won its first game in its second match, defeating Seattle Reign FC 2–0 at home on April 26.^[18]

On July 1, head coach Vlatko Andonovski traded Cuéllar to Seattle Reign FC for Teresa Noyola.^[19]

FC Kansas City clinched its first playoff qualification after defeating Portland Thorns FC 3–2 on August 4, with Lauren Holiday scoring a brace and Kristie Mewis scoring the match-winning goal in the 74th minute. The road match set a league attendance record of 17,619.^[20]

However, despite opportunities to clinch the NWSL Shield, Kansas City lost to the Boston Breakers on August 10^[21] and the Chicago Red Stars on August 18,^[22] resulting in a three-way tie atop the table for points. With the league's first tiebreaker being head-to-head record, the Western New York Flash won the 2013 Shield, Kansas City finished second, and Portland finished third.^[23]

The loss to the Breakers snapped a 10-match unbeaten streak, the season's longest, and was the last time an opponent would shutout Kansas City in any competition until Sky Blue FC in the opening match of the 2015 season, a streak of 25 regular-season matches and 28 including playoffs.^[24]: 369 The team's 11 shutouts on the season set a league record that stood until North Carolina Courage recorded 12 in the 2017 season, which was two matches longer.^[24]: 371

Postseason

On August 24, Kansas City hosted Portland in the first-ever NWSL Playoffs match in the league's history. After taking a 2–0 lead at halftime on goals by Erika Tymrak and Melissa Henderson, Portland scored twice in the second half to draw in regulation and force extra time.^[25] Thorns midfielder Allie Long scored the match-winning goal in the 103rd minute and Kansas City were unable to equalize, eliminating Kansas City from the postseason. The loss was the seventh time in all of the season's competitions that Kansas City had led by two or more goals during a match but failed to win.^[26]

Honors

See also: § Honors and awards

FC Kansas City swept the league's postseason individual awards, led by Holiday winning the golden boot and most valuable player awards. Her 12 goals and 9 assists led the league in both categories, and she scored a goal or assist in 10 consecutive appearances, interrupted only by international duty and her wedding to Jrue Holiday.^[27]

Stadium

On February 6, the club announced its home matches would be played at Shawnee Mission District Stadium in Overland Park, Kansas, a 6,150-capacity high-school gridiron football and track and field stadium with artificial turf. Season tickets were initially priced from $135 to $255.^[28]

Club

Roster

As of August 1, 2013^[update].^[29]

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	USA	Bianca Henninger
2	FW	USA	Melissa Henderson
3	FW	CAN	Tiffany Cameron
4	DF	USA	Becky Sauerbrunn
6	MF	USA	Jen Buczkowski
7	FW	USA	Casey Loyd
8	DF	USA	Courtney Jones
9	DF	USA	Merritt Mathias
10	MF	MEX	Teresa Noyola
11	MF	CAN	Desiree Scott
12	FW	USA	Lauren Cheney
13	DF	USA	Leigh Ann Robinson
14	DF	CAN	Lauren Sesselmann
15	MF	USA	Erika Tymrak
16	DF	USA	Nia Williams
17	MF	USA	Sinead Farrelly
18	GK	USA	Nicole Barnhart
19	MF	USA	Kristie Mewis
20	DF	USA	Katie Kelly
22	DF	USA	Natalie Norris (reserve)
23	MF	USA	Missy Geha (reserve)
26	FW	USA	Jaime French
—	MF	CZE	Vendula Strnadová (reserve)

Transactions

• July 1: Renae Cuéllar and 3rd-round pick in the 2014 NWSL College Draft traded to Seattle Reign FC for Teresa Noyola, rights to Nikki Krzysik, and a 2nd-round pick in the 2014 draft.^[19]
• July 31: Jaime French signed^[30]

Team management

FC Kansas City's ownership group was composed of Chris, Brad and Greg Likens, and Brian Budzinski. The group also owns the Missouri Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League.^[31] Budzinski is also owner of the Kansas City Soccerdome.^[32] On December 12, 2012, the team announced the hiring of Vlatko Andonovski, a former professional player and head coach of the Kansas City Kings of the PASL and Missouri Olympic Development Program (ODP), as head coach for the season.^[33]

Competitions

Key

  Win   Draw   Loss

Preseason

FC Kansas City v Nebraska Cornhuskers' Women's Soccer

April 6, 2013 1	FC Kansas City	8–0	Nebraska Cornhuskers' Women's Soccer	Parkville, Missouri
14:30	Cuéllar 16', 20', 44', 55', 67' Jones 17' Farrelly 51'	Report		Stadium: Julian Field Attendance: 410 Referee: Brandon Marshall

NWSL regular season

Main article: 2013 National Women's Soccer League season

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
22	11	5	6	34	22	+12	38	6	2	3	16	7	+9	5	3	3	18	15	+3

Last updated: August 18, 2013.
Source: Match reports

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Stadium	H	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H
Result	D	P	W	W	L	W	L	L	W	W	L	W	D	W	D	D	D	W	W	W	W	L	L

Updated to match(es) played on August 18, 2013. Source: Match reports
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed

Matches

Kickoff times are in CDT (UTC-05)

FC Kansas City v Portland Thorns FC

April 13, 2013 1	FC Kansas City	1–1	Portland Thorns FC	Overland Park, Kansas
19:35	Cuéllar 3' Mewis  43'	KC Report Portland Report	Sinclair 66' (pen.) Washington  70' Williamson  82'	Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium Attendance: 6,784 Referee: Kari Seitz

FC Kansas City v Boston Breakers

April 20, 2013 2	FC Kansas City	Postponed[34]	Boston Breakers	Overland Park, Kansas
19:35		Boston Marathon bombing		Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium

FC Kansas City v Seattle Reign FC

April 26, 2013 3	FC Kansas City	2–0	Seattle Reign FC	Overland Park, Kansas
19:35	Farrelly 21' Cuéllar 71'	Report		Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium Attendance: 4064 Referee: Christina Unkel

Seattle Reign FC v FC Kansas City

May 4, 2013 4	Seattle Reign FC	0–1	FC Kansas City	Tukwila, Washington
22:00	Reed  29' Fishlock  32'	Report	Sesselmann  58' Cuéllar 69'	Stadium: Starfire Stadium Attendance: 2,618 Referee: Margaret Domka

Western New York Flash v FC Kansas City

May 11, 2013 5	Western New York Flash	2–1	FC Kansas City	Rochester, New York
18:35	Wambach 34', 39' Heyboer  95'	Report	Cheney 53' Sesselmann  91'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium Attendance: 2,738 Referee: Katja Koroleva

FC Kansas City v Boston Breakers

May 18, 2013 6	FC Kansas City	2–0	Boston Breakers	Overland Park, Kansas
19:35	Cuéllar 17' Mathias  23' Cheney 64'	Report		Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium Attendance: 4,362 Referee: Miguel Panduro Jr.

FC Kansas City v Sky Blue FC

May 25, 2013 7	FC Kansas City	0–1	Sky Blue FC	Overland Park, Kansas
19:35	Sesselmann  22'	Report	Schmidt 23' (pen.)	Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium Attendance: 4186 Referee: John McCloskey

Portland Thorns FC v FC Kansas City

June 6, 2013 8	Portland Thorns FC	4–3	FC Kansas City	Portland, Oregon
21:30	Morgan 13', 66'  80' Wetzel 20' Foxhoven 48'	Report	Cheney 31' (pen.), 56' Tymrak 81' Jones  89'	Stadium: JELD-WEN Field Attendance: 10,886 Referee: Miguel Panduro Jr

Seattle Reign FC v FC Kansas City

June 9, 2013 9	Seattle Reign FC	0–1	FC Kansas City	Tukwila, Washington
21:00	Kyle  92'	Report	Tymrak 63'	Stadium: Starfire Stadium Attendance: 1,377 Referee: Kara Honthumb

Chicago Red Stars v FC Kansas City

June 13, 2013 10	Chicago Red Stars	0–2	FC Kansas City	Lisle, Illinois
18:30	Vandenbergh  34'	Report	Loyd 27' (pen.) Jones 66'	Stadium: Benedictine University Sports Complex Stadium Attendance: 1,141 Referee: Josh Wilkens

FC Kansas City v Chicago Red Stars

June 16, 2013 11	FC Kansas City	1–3	Chicago Red Stars	Overland Park, Kansas
15:10	Cuéllar 4' Wiliams  79'	Report	Grings 29'  43' Masar 58' Fuss 91' (pen.)	Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium Attendance: 3,421 Referee: Juliana Duncan

FC Kansas City v Washington Spirit

June 23, 2013 12	FC Kansas City	2–0	Washington Spirit	Overland Park, Kansas
15:10	Cheney 17', 65'	Summary	Pressley  29'	Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium Attendance: 3,057 Referee: Katja Koroleva

Sky Blue FC v FC Kansas City

June 26, 2013 13	Sky Blue FC	2–2	FC Kansas City	Piscataway, New Jersey
19:35	Ocampo 85', 90+2'	Summary	Tymrak 14' Cheney 74'	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 1,126 Referee: Robert Sibiga

FC Kansas City v Portland Thorns FC

June 30, 2013 14	FC Kansas City	2–0	Portland Thorns FC	Overland Park, Kansas
15:10	Cheney 10' Mathias 71'	Summary		Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium Attendance: 4,774 Referee: Christina Unkel

Washington Spirit v FC Kansas City

July 3, 2013 15	Washington Spirit	1–1	FC Kansas City	Germantown, Maryland
18:30	Matheson 86' (pen.)	Report	Tymrak 55'	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 2,467

FC Kansas City v Western New York Flash

July 7, 2013 16	FC Kansas City	0–0	Western New York Flash	Overland Park, Kansas
15:10	Robinson  61'	Report	Reynolds  30'	Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium Attendance: 5,031 Referee: Elvis Mahmutovic

Chicago Red Stars v FC Kansas City

July 14, 2013 17	Chicago Red Stars	3–3	FC Kansas City	Lisle, Illinois
15:00	Dominguez 41' Masar 90' Chalupny 96+'	Report	Holiday 17' Hemmings 43' (o.g.) Tymrak 87'	Stadium: Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex Attendance: 1,549 Referee: Josh Wilkens

FC Kansas City v Seattle Reign FC

July 20, 2013 18	FC Kansas City	2–0	Seattle Reign FC	Overland Park, Kansas
19:35 (PST)	Holiday 39' Tymrak 86'	Report		Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium Attendance: 5,271 Referee: Boris Senic

FC Kansas City v Boston Breakers

July 24, 2013 2R	FC Kansas City	3–0	Boston Breakers	Overland Park, Kansas
19:35 (PST)	McNeill 72' (o.g.) Jones 85' Mathias 90'			Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium Attendance: 5,024

Sky Blue FC v FC Kansas City

July 28, 2013 19	Sky Blue FC	0–1	FC Kansas City	Piscataway, New Jersey
17:00	Jones 76'			Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 1,302

Portland Thorns FC v FC Kansas City

August 4, 2013 20	Portland Thorns FC	2–3	FC Kansas City	Portland, Oregon
16:00	Foxhoven 51' Morgan 89'		Holiday 23' 55' Mewis 74'	Stadium: JELD-WEN Field Attendance: 17,619

Boston Breakers v FC Kansas City

August 10, 2013 21	Boston Breakers	1–0	FC Kansas City	Somerville, Massachusetts
17:00	Leroux 65'	Report		Stadium: Dilboy Stadium Attendance: 2,116 Referee: Kara Honthumb

FC Kansas City v Chicago Red Stars

August 18, 2013 22	FC Kansas City	1–2	Chicago Red Stars	Overland Park, Kansas
15:10	Jones 20'	Report	Hoy 45', 92' Grings  65' Santacaterina  68'	Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium Attendance: 4,910 Referee: Elvid Mahmutovic

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Western New York Flash	22	10	8	4	36	20	+16	38	NWSL Shield
2	FC Kansas City	22	11	5	6	34	22	+12	38	NWSL Playoffs
3	Portland Thorns FC (C)	22	11	5	6	32	25	+7	38
4	Sky Blue FC	22	10	6	6	31	26	+5	36
5	Boston Breakers	22	8	6	8	35	34	+1	30
6	Chicago Red Stars	22	8	6	8	32	36	−4	30
7	Seattle Reign FC	22	5	3	14	22	36	−14	18
8	Washington Spirit	22	3	5	14	16	39	−23	14

Source: soccerway.com
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(C) Champions

Statistics

Field player regular-season statistics^[35]

N	P	Nation	Name	GP	GS	Min	G	A	WG	Shot	SOG	Cros	CK	Off	Foul	FS	YC	RC
6	MF	USA	Jen Buczkowski	22	22	1,980[a]	0	2	0	11	11	0	0	1	11	14	0	0
13	DF	USA	Leigh Ann Robinson	22	22	1,900	0	5	0	10	6	16	0	2	5	5	1	0
11	MF	CAN	Desiree Scott	20	20	1,800	0	0	0	7	5	2	0	0	24	12	0	0
19	MF	USA	Kristie Mewis	20	20	1,784	1	0	1	34	13	10	43	1	12	19	2	0
9	DF	USA	Merritt Mathias	22	19	1,738	2	3	0	25	17	19	4	7	22	13	3	0
4	DF	USA	Becky Sauerbrunn	19	19	1,710	0	1	0	2	1	1	0	0	2	5	0	0
14	DF	CAN	Lauren Sesselmann	19	19	1,633	0	0	0	4	1	3	0	0	17	10	3	1
12	MF	USA	Lauren Cheney	18	18	1,620	12	9	3	63	31	9	27	3	14	28	0	0
15	MF	USA	Erika Tymrak	21	16	1,453	6	4	1	26	14	6	3	5	2	18	0	0
2	MF	USA	Melissa Henderson	17	13	1,030	0	0	0	12	9	2	0	16	11	9	0	0
17	MF	USA	Sinead Farrelly	16	10	896	1	0	1	9	3	0	0	6	4	7	0	0
10	FW	MEX	Renae Cuéllar	11	8	682	5	0	2	27	16	0	0	18	3	8	0	0
8	DF	USA	Courtney Jones	22	6	670	4	1	1	32	21	6	0	12	6	7	0	0
7	MF	USA	Casey Loyd	4	3	275	1	1	1	9	4	2	5	1	2	4	0	0
20	DF	CAN	Katie Kelly	7	2	207	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	2	1	0	0
16	DF	USA	Nia Williams	4	2	182	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	1	0
10	MF	MEX	Teresa Noyola	7	1	155	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	2	1	0	0
16	FW	USA	Jaime French	1	0	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	FW	CAN	Tiffany Cameron	1	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF	USA	Missy Geha	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	DF	USA	Natalie Norris	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goalkeeper regular-season statistics^[35]

N	P	Nation	Name	GP	GS	Min	W	L	T	Shot	SOG	Save	GA	GA/G	Pen	PKF	SO
18	GK	USA	Nicole Barnhart	20	20	1,800	10	5	5	187	86	67	19	0.95	3	3	10
1	GK	USA	Bianca Henninger	2	2	180	1	1	0	17	8	5	3	1.50	1	1	1

1. Played every available minute of the season.^[24]: 375

NWSL Championship Playoffs

FC Kansas City v Portland Thorns FC

August 24, 2013 Semifinal	FC Kansas City	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Portland Thorns FC	Overland Park, Kansas
13:00 CDT	Tymrak 12' Henderson 25' Scott  73' Buczkowski  86'		Heath 33' Dougherty  50' Long  61' 103' Weimer 66'	Stadium: Shawnee Mission District Stadium Attendance: 4,016 Referee: Christina Unkel

Honors and awards

See also: NWSL awards

• Lauren Holiday – NWSL Player of the Month, June 2013^[36]
• Erika Tymrak – NWSL Player of the Week, week 15^[37]
• Erika Tymrak – NWSL Player of the Month, July 2013^[38]
• Lauren Holiday – NWSL Golden Boot^[39]
• Erika Tymrak – NWSL Rookie of the Year^[40]
• Nicole Barnhart – NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year^[27]
• Becky Sauerbrunn – NWSL Defender of the Year^[27]
• Vlatko Andonovski – NWSL Coach of the Year^[27]
• Lauren Holiday – NWSL Most Valuable Player^[39][27]
• NWSL Team of the Year^[24]: 43
  • First XI – GK Nicole Barnhart, DF Leigh Ann Robinson, DF Becky Sauerbrunn, MF Lauren Holiday
  • Second XI – DF Lauren Sesselmann, MF Desiree Scott, MF Erika Tymrak