The Kansas City Current defeated the Portland Thorns 5-4 to win their season-opener and the first-ever game in their new 11,500-seat CPKC Stadium, the first built specifically for a women's professional sports team.
Vanessa DiBernardo scored a brace for the Current, with goals from Beatriz Zaneratto Joao, Kristen Hamilton, and Alexandra Pfeiffer clinching the win in front of a cheering home crowd, while Sophia Smith and Janine Beckie scored for the losing side.
It was the Current's second-ever win against the Thorns in their ten meetings.
Before the game Hamilton had commented on how meaningful the space is for the team:
"To just have our own space, something that's ours, and to walk in, it's a sense of pride."
Teammate Desiree Scott recalled her time on The Current's NWSL precursor FC KC, which played its first game on a high school football field in 2013.
"To be in the league when it began, and to have to get dressed in my car... we have certainly come a long way.'
