NWSL and FC Kansas City reveal 2016 schedule

The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) released the 2016 regular season schedule Thursday. NWSL defending champions FC Kansas City will host the Western New York Flash on Saturday, April 16^th at a venue still to be announced.

With ten clubs in the league and a 20 game season, FC Kansas City will play most of the teams once at home and once on the road. The Chicago Red Stars are the exception with both teams visiting each other twice in the season

The NWSL set the schedule to completely avoid regular season league play during all FIFA dates. With the Olympics taking place in August addition, the NWSL will take a 25-day break from August 1 through August 25.

The regular season will conclude the weekend of Sept. 24-25 with all ten clubs in action during the final weekend of the campaign. The top four teams will once again qualify for the 2016 NWSL Playoffs. The dates for the semifinals and final, including the pre-determined site of the championship, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Some dates of interest

• Two games stand out with the locations being listed as TBD, the home opener on April 16^th versus Western New York and Sept 4^th versus Sky Blue FC. In 2015 FC Kansas City's home opener was at Sporting Park (now Children's Mercy Park) and they may be pursuing that possibility again this year. The September 4^th game would give players returning from the Olympics some time to rest and potentially play their first home match at Children's Mercy Park, hopefully with a gold medal in attendance.
• The Reign will be looking for some vengeance on May 1^st when the Blues pay a visit to Seattle. It was FC Kansas City that defeated them two years in a row in the NWSL Championship so there may be still be some emotions carry over.
• The home opener against Western New York will be the first time for FC Kansas City forward Sydney Leroux to face her old team (if she wasn't missing the season while pregnant).
• May 28^th will be the first opportunity to see the Orlando Pride, this year's expansion team.
• FC Kansas City will have some long stretches with not many games at home. June, July and August all have only one home game for the Blues. The break for the Olympics is the cause of the single game in August but June and July they are on the road a lot.

FC Kansas City Schedule