Kansas City are heading to the Challenge Cup semifinals after locking up the Central Division, defeating the Chicago Red Stars 2-1 on Sunday.

The group-play victory also clinches Kansas City home advantage for the knock-out stage of the tournament.

Sunday’s matchup was slow to start as Alyssa Naeher made several critical saves to keep the game scoreless at the break.

Chicago saw some solid chances in the opening 45 minutes, but with a lengthy injury list that included Mallory Pugh and Morgan Gautrat, the Red Stars didn’t look like their full selves.

After the break the game opened up, with both sides creating quality chances in the final third.

Kansas City broke the deadlock in thrilling fashion in the 50th minute, with Alex Loera firing a long-range rocket past Naeher for the lead and her first NWSL goal.

Chicago didn’t take long to respond with Bianca St-Georges tapping in a lofted cross at the back post to equalize in the 52nd minute.

The Current took back the lead in the 76th minute with Elyse Bennett beating her defender one-on-one before playing the ball in front of the goal where Kristen Hamilton executed the finish to put the game at 2-1.

Kansas City was able to play out the match, preserving a 2-1 lead for the win. Sunday’s victory marks the club’s fourth victory of 2022, already bettering their three total wins from the 2021 regular season.

The Current will host the North Carolina Courage in the Challenge Cup semifinal on May 4.

Kansas City and the Houston Dash collected three points each in the Challenge Cup standings, with both clubs pulling out hard-fought wins on Friday night.

First, the Dash came back from a two-goal deficit to overcome Racing Louisville 3-2 at Lynn Family Stadium.

Louisville opened up scoring with Kirsten Davis scoring her first career goal to put her side up 1-0 in the 16th minute.

Jessica McDonald doubled Louisville’s lead in the 40th minute, volleying in an artful shot over Jane Campbell for the forward’s first goal in a Louisville uniform.

The Dash came out after the half on the attack, with a pair of goals from Marisa Viggiano and María Sánchez equalizing the game at 2-2.

The game’s decisive goal came in the 64th minute when Rachel Daly drew a foul in the box before converting from the line to hand the Dash the 3-2 win.

Kansas City also stamped a come-from-behind win on Friday, defeating the Red Stars 2-1.

Chicago opened up scoring with Vanessa DIBernardo firing a deflected long-range shot past Adrianna Franch to take the lead.

The Current’s equalizer came in the 58th minute when Hailie Mace struck a banger past Alyssa Naeher to put the game at 1-1.

Kansas City’s game-winner came in the 86th minute off another brilliant play by Mace. The Current defender looped the ball over Chicago’s backline to find Kristen Hamilton, who beat Naeher one-on-one to secure the game for her side.

The Current sits atop the Central Division standings, while the Dash moves to third following Friday’s wins.

Kristen Hamilton is officially on the board for Kansas City.

Hamilton’s tally helped lift Kansas City over Racing Louisville 2-1 for the club’s second-straight win at home.

Kansas City took control of the game from the opening whistle. In the 17th minute, a cross from Hamilton deflected off Racing Louisville defender Erin Simon and into the net for an own goal. Forward Hailie Mace then assisted Hamilton for her goal in the 40th minute to put Kansas City up 2-0 at the half.

Hamilton’s big night punctuated a turbulent couple of weeks since Kansas City acquired her in a trade from North Carolina. The 29-year-old said in July that it was “tough” to come to terms with the trade but she was excited to be in Kansas City.

“It’s tough,” Hamilton said at the time. “I mean, I think that nobody expected it, to be able to pack up in a day and leave a team that I’ve been with for six years.

“So yeah, it’s tough, it’s emotional. But I’m excited to be here.”

Wednesday’s match marked Hamilton’s 100th NWSL appearance.

“I had no idea,” she said of the milestone afterward. “But just what is special to me is just being around the league for so long and seeing the growth that has already come, and it’s exciting to see what the future holds.”

Adrianna Franch, in her first start for Kansas City since being traded from the Portland Thorns, dominated in goal, facing seven shots and allowing just one.

Kansas City’s game against North Carolina was light on goals and heavy on off-pitch drama, taking place only 24 hours after a blockbuster trade between the two clubs.

Amy Rodriguez dressed in a Courage uniform for the first time, taking the pitch against her former team after being traded to North Carolina in exchange for Kristen Hamilton, Hailie Mace and Katelyn Rowland.

The match ended in a relatively quiet scoreless draw, with most of the attention focused on the player swap.

After the game, Kristen Hamilton opened up about her feelings surrounding the trade to Steph Yang of The Athletic.

“It’s tough. I mean I think that nobody expected it, to be able to pack up in a day, and leave a team that I’ve been with for six years.”

Hamilton says, while emotional, the trade is par for the course with the NWSL.

“This is how our league works, and this is, you know, this is how we’re treated and this is kind of what we’re expected to do.”

Moving forward, Hamilton says that trades and player rights will be part of the Players Association’s negotiations for a new CBA.

“I think that we need to have control over our rights and have some say in where we want to play.”

Next up: North Carolina will host the Pride on July 31. Kansas City will travel to Portland to take on the Thorns on Aug. 1.

All eyes might be on the USWNT in Tokyo, but Kansas City and North Carolina are here to remind you there is still NWSL action to be had.

The two clubs announced a blockbuster trade this morning, with Kansas City sending Amy Rodriguez and $60,000 of allocation money to North Carolina in exchange for Kristen Hamilton, Hailie Mace and Katelyn Rowland.

The 2015 NWSL MVP, Rodriguez is an experienced forward, leading Kansas City as one of their top scorers with two of the club’s five goals this season. In her time with the Utah Royals she scored 15 goals in 47 matches and helped the former FC Kansas City win two championships. She can also do this:

In return, Kansas City will acquire significant depth in Hamilton, Mace and Rowland.

Hamilton has been a staple member of the Courage since 2014, when they were originally the Western New York Flash, helping to lead the club to their first ever NWSL championship in 2016. Since the club became the Courage, Hamilton has appeared in 67 matches, scoring 15 goals.

Mace and Rowland are also staple pieces that should bring additional depth to Kansas City. Mace has goal scoring abilities, including a brace against Racing Louisville FC in May, while Rowland has appeared in net 30 times for the Courage.

Both Hamilton and Rowland bring with them championship experience, having won two NWSL Championship titles, three NWSL Shields and a Women’s ICC Championship title.