KC Current blanks Gotham FC for Summer Cup championship: NWSL x Liga MX Femenil

Temwa Chawinga added another chapter to her storybook first season in the National Women’s Soccer League on Friday night in San Antonio.

And this one came with a trophy for the Kansas City Current.

The Current forward scored twice in the first half as KC beat Gotham FC 2-0 in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup final at Toyota Field.

The Current kept another clean sheet against a beleaguered NJ/NY squad for KC’s second summer championship.

“We fought for this trophy hard in the summer, played some really good teams, played the semifinal and a great team in the final,” Current coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “Overall, a great achievement by our team, and a very good tournament for us.”

Chawinga’s two first-half goals were her 22nd and 23rd of the year across all competitions. She has scored 20 in NWSL matches and three in two summer-tourney title games.

Chawinga scored the only goal in a 1-0 KC win against Atletico Madrid in The Women’s Cup.

While The Women’s Cup and Summer Cup are not necessarily the big-ticket trophies teams are seeking at the start of the league season, Andonovski sees value in playing in these finals — and winning them.

“You can’t win a big trophy if you don’t win the small ones,” the coach said. “Whether it’s the Women’s Cup, and then the Summer Cup and now we have the postseason, I think it’s a good habit to have.

“Winning is a habit, and I’m glad that as a team and as an organization we started building this mindset, and I just hope that it takes us now to the next one.”

Four Current players were absent Friday for international duty. So some lineup changes were in the cards. Debinha started as a striker but dropped deep underneath Chawinga and Michelle Cooper, acting almost as a fourth midfielder.

Chawinga — the NWSL’s newly minted record-holder for goals in a season — chipped former Current goalkeeper Cassie Miller twice. The first instance came in the 24th minute after a nifty passing combination through the midfield.

The ball went from Alana Cook to Claire Hutton to Lo LaBonta. LaBonta took the pass from Hutton for the first time to dink a pass, springing Chawinga in on goal. Chawinga pump-faked a shot and then beat Miller one-on-one.

Twelve minutes later, the same passing combination — only higher up the field — sent Chawinga in on goal again. She scored on a dinked chip-shot to the back post.

LaBonta played the final pass on both goals. She said the spaces into which she had to pass the ball were tighter than usual.

“She is a finisher,” LaBonta said of Chawinga. “I mean, you already know she’s the golden boot leader, probably about to be the winner. So you just give her the ball and she works magical things.”

The Current defense was sharp again, allowing just one shot on target.

With the international break underway, NWSL action remains on pause. Competition resumes next week for the final matches of the regular season.

“We have one more game left in the season (and) we’re not going to take that lightly,” LaBonta said. “And then we’re heading into the playoffs, and that’s the big thing that we really want to be successful in.”

The Current next plays Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. at Chicago Stars FC (formerly the Chicago Red Stars).

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.

This story was originally published October 25, 2024 at 9:04 PM.