Wisconsin Soccer Central

Three players with Wisconsin ties saw action in the inaugural National Women's Soccer League match.

Center back Lauren Sesselmann (Green Bay Notre Dame) logged the full 90 minutes, midfielder Casey Loyd(Cedarburg) started and went 71 minutes and midfielderKatie Kelly (Marquette) played the final 14 minutes off the bench as FC Kansas City played a 1-1 draw with Portland Thorns FC on Saturday night in Overland Park, Kan.

A sellout crowd of 6,784 saw the home team take the lead through Renee Cuellar just three minutes in, but Sesselmann was ruled to have taken down Danielle Foxhaven in the box in the 66th minute. Christine Sinclair, Sesselmann's teammate on the Canadian national team, converted the resulting penalty kick to level the score.

• Striker Sarah Hagen (Appleton North/UW-Milwaukee) scored her ninth goal of the Frauen-Bundesliga season, tied for seventh in the top German league, as FC Bayern Munich blanked host Gütersloh 2-0 on Sunday.
• The state players in the Toppserien, the top women's league in Norway, had their season openers postponed Saturday. Katie Bethke (Eau Claire Memorial) and Avaldsnes are now scheduled to start league play Saturday at Lillestrøm, whileRosie Malone-Povolny (Marquette), Keara Thompson (UW-Milwaukee) and Medkila IL will play host to Sandviken on the same day. Saturday's postponement likely was good news for Shannon Smyth (Mequon/Milwaukee DSHA), who could miss one fewer match for Amazon Grimstad – she is sidelined with a broken foot.
• Charles Kazlauskas (Milwaukee Thomas More) and Helmond Sport went into Friday's match at Volendam tied with the hosts atop the Jupiler League, Holland's second division, but suffered a 3-0 loss in the showdown. Kazlauskas played all 90 minutes for Helmond (14-5-9, 51 points), which fell into third place behind Volendam (17-7-3, 54) and SC Cambuur (16-7-4, 52) with two league matches remaining. The top team in the 16-team league earns automatic promotion to the top-level Eredivisie, while eight other teams enter the complex Nacompetitie promotion/relegation playoffs.
• Matt Pyzdrowski (Marquette) made seven saves for the clean sheet as Ängelholms FF drew 0-0 at rival Landskrona in a second-division Superettan match on Friday in Sweden. Ängelholms (0-1-1) showed marked improvement from the teams' meeting in a Swedish Cup game back on March 16, which Landskrona won 3-1.
• Andrew Stadler (Wauwatosa West) scored for Sandvikens IF on Sunday, but his 71st-minute goal was consolation as host BK Forward posted a 3-1 victory in a Division 1 Norra opener in Sweden.
• Defender Greg Rosenthal (UW-Milwaukee) has joined Valsta Syrianska, which makes its return to Division 1 Norra – the country's third division – on Monday. The 24-year-old Rosenthal spent the past two years with Gamla Upsala SK in Division 2 Norra Svealand, enjoying a successful 2011 season in the fourth-division league before being limited to just six matches in 2013 due to injury. Valsta Syrianska won Division 2 Norra Svealand last year to gain promotion to Division 1 Norra; they played in the league for six seasons until being relegated in 2011.