July 20, 2026
Photo by Jeff DeVries, WPSL 2026
By Andrew Mosier, WPSL Communications
RIVERSIDE, Mo. (July 20, 2026) — Kansas City Current II held off a late push by New York Athletic Club to win the chess game that was the 2026 WPSL Championships Final 1-0 at Riverside Stadium on Sunday.
Avery Clark scored the game-winner in the 39th minute off a corner kick from Ally Henry to give Current II its first WPSL Championships title. But it was the stalwart defenses from both sides that was the story on the night.
“Credit to New York. They were a tough opponent to break down. Their center backs were phenomenal today. We had so many opportunities in the box and it seemed like every time they were at the right place at the right time,” Vasil Ristov, Kansas City Current II head coach, said. “We found a moment on a set piece, which is a very important part of the game, and we were able to capitalize on it.”
Even with the 7 p.m. kickoff, the Missouri heat and humidity played a factor in both sides’ approach to the match, as it had done in the semifinal matches played the morning before.
Current II entered this year’s Championships with a distinct advantage of playing at its home stadium, which was selected as host venue long before Current II earned the Championships berth, winning the Heartland Division, Midwest Conference, and East Region to get there.
Current II utilized its deep bench, taking full advantage of the unlimited substations allowed in the WPSL. NYAC, which won its first Metropolitan Conference and East Region in the club’s 20-year WPSL tenure, traveled with a smaller roster, and was hamstrung with the late unavailability of standout midfielder Victoria Vinals due to college commitments.
All season long NYAC, which is experiencing a renaissance of sorts, winning its first regular season title in a decade and first ever East Region title and berth into the Championships, thrived its relentless pressure high up the field. But between the sweltering conditions in back-to-back games, and the quality of its opposition, NYAC head coach Brian Simpson had to adjust the way the team played, sitting back in a deep block, allowing Current II much of the possession, picking and choosing the moments to flood forward.
“It started off with them having all the territory and possession, which was the plan, and then begin to press further up the field in the second half,” Simpson said.
Despite the lopsided possession in the first half, it was all going to Simpson’s plan until Clark’s darting run to the near post, beating her defender to the ball and glancing the header to the unguarded far post with six minutes to play in the first half put Current up 1-0.
“We switched off on the set piece. It was unlucky,” Simpson said.
The goal was Clark’s 16th goal total and third in the post season. Clark set up the corner with a blistering, dipping shot from a difficult angle that NYAC first-half goalkeeper Tatiana Saunders wisely parried momentarily out of danger for a corner kick.
“It was a perfect corner. We’ve been working on that all year. I made the run to the near post and Ally [Henry] served it up perfectly,” Clark said.
Clarke, who played two years at the University of Texas in 2023 and 2024 before joining Current II full-time, scored in both the semifinal and final, making her the 2026 WPSL Championships Golden Boot winner, and for her performance in Sunday’s match was named Outstanding Player. Clark made her first team appearance earlier this year, scoring in her debut.
As it had done in the semifinal, NYAC swapped goalkeepers for the second half, replacing Saunders, a wily former pro with four saves in the first half, with Sydney Romano, who is entering her junior year at Princeton. Romano made several key saves in the opening minutes of the first half, and was saved by the crossbar on a just before the hour mark, holding off Current II’s steady attack until the 60-minute mark when NYAC began to chase the game in earnest.
The tactical shift turned the game on its end. Despite the visible exhaustion, NYAC flooded players forward, now contesting every ball deep in Current II’s defensive third. Without a shot on goal in the first half, NYAC wrestled back control of the game, turning it on its head, maintaining control of the ball and forcing Current II to defend, often in its own penalty area after having little to do in the first half.
“Defense wins championships. We proved that tonight. We know we have a dynamic attack, that we are going to find a way to score, but we do not give up opportunities in the back, and that is why we won tonight,” Ristov said.
Center backs Itala Gemelli, who finished her collegiate playing career at the University of Alabama in 2024, and Naila Schoefberger, whose college career finished in 2025 at Mississippi State University, and goalkeeper Evelyn Citali, who played last year for the University Arkansas, anchored the Current II defense throughout the WPSL postseason, posting four consecutive shutouts, including in Sunday’s final. Schoefberger’s emergency defending in the final moments of the match versus New York earned her Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Match plaudits.
Even with Current II’s defensive heroics, the final moments of the match were harrowing. With 30 seconds remaining in regulation, Josie Tunney, a junior at Colgate University, controlled a Current II clearance and played NYAC’s captain and leading scorer, Dylan Jovanovic through with a perfectly weighted pass. Jovanovic, the pacy junior from Princeton, beat one defender at the top of the penalty area to set up her right foot. The vicious blast smacked off the woodwork, denying Jovanovic her 10th goal on the season, and NYAC’s equalizing goal.
“To get back into the game in the second half and push them to the very end, it is just impressive, and a testament to the work of the player,” Simpson said.
After four long minutes of stoppage time, referee Ashley Cedro, who was part of the all-female officiating crew that oversaw the WPSL Championships for a second straight year, signaled the end of the match and a piece of women’s soccer history for Kansas City Current II.
“To win the championship in our first season back in the WPSL says a lot about the group of players we have here and the organization,” Ristov said. “We got better as the tournament went on, gaining experience that is hopefully going to help their career and push them forward. We could not have asked for a better result.”
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2026 WPSL Championships Final
Sunday, July 19, 2026
7 p.m. CDT
Riverside Stadium
Riverside, Mo.
Box Score:
Kansas City Current II: 1
New York Athletic Club: 0
1-0: Clark, 39’
Misconduct:
Caution: KCCII - Chloe Guenther, 65’
Kansas City Current II: Evelyn Vitali; Skylar Blaise, Naila Schoefberger, Itala Gemelli ©, Chelsea Wagner; Chloe Guenther, Avery Clark, Talia Gabberra; Jacy Hackler, Caroline Kelly, Alexa Heredia-Beltran. Substitutes: Ally Henry, Brooklyn Robbins, Kaiya Brewer, Khari Hontz, Olivia Owens, Samantha Ogden, Syenna Haynesworth, Taliana Kaufusi, Tori Vassor. Head Coach: Vasil Ristov
New York Athletic Club: Tatiana Saunders; Caelan Bacon, Dylan Jovanovic ©, Emily Smith, Emily Villanueva, Esme Rudell, Kayla Wong, Kierra Krawic, Nina Bodow, Rachel Rouse, Taylor Ferraro. Substitutes: Elle Hennes, Josie Tunney, Lauren Ahearn, Samantha Weiss, Sydney Romano. Head Coach: Brian Simpson
Officials:
CR: Ashley Cedro
AR1: Morgan Nathan
AR2: Jessica Peralta
4th: Shelby Breeze
