Controversy, video reviews and ... a Current win. Here’s how KC survived a wild one
The Kansas City Current went on the road for the first time in 2025 — against a high-quality opponent in the Washington Spirit. The Current scored twice in the second half and kept the home team off the scoreboard to earn a hard-fought 2-0 victory.
“It’s important to get road wins, especially against a team like the Spirit, who I think are a very good team and are going to do very good this season,” head coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “As always, we come in quiet, win three points, celebrate tonight, recover tomorrow and move on.”
It was the first time since 2022 that the Current won on the road against the Spirit — after a 2-1 loss in 2023 and 4-1 loss in 2024. The Current improved to 2-0-0 on the season.
“It wasn’t the cleanest game, it wasn’t the greatest game for us, but we dug deep,” defender Kayla Sharples said.
Sharples added that the atmosphere at Audi Field in Washington D.C. was “insane.”
“Hats off to the Spirit,” Sharples said. “That was a great atmosphere to play in. It was loud, but we persevered. And I think showing that early on in the season is going to help us.”
The attendance was 19,254, a record home attendance for the Spirit.
The first 45 minutes were all KC. Temwa Chawinga could’ve scored at least two goals, and Michelle Cooper had a shout for one of her own. The Current couldn’t find the back of the net, though, and needed goalkeeper Lorena to make a highlight save off the line to keep the score at 0-0.
After a scoreless first half, the Current kept the pressure on and earned a penalty kick when Temwa Chawinga’s goal-bound header struck the arm of a Washington Spirit defender.
After a video review, Lo LaBonta stepped up to take the penalty kick and converted, giving the Current a 1-0 lead.
“I had in my head that Aubrey (Kingsbury) is one of the best PK-saving keepers in this league,” LaBonta said. “We saw it in the Challenge Cup just recently. So I did have that in my mind that I had to hit that sharply.”
The Spirit thought they had an immediate equalizer, but the flag was up for offside. The referee for the match was called over to the monitor because Trinity Rodman was actually onside. However, before the ball reached Rodman, a foul was committed by a Spirit player, so the goal still did not count.
The tension continued.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Spirit thought they were awarded a penalty kick after Ashley Hatch went down in the box under pressure from Alana Cook. Cook got in the face of Hatch, accusing her of diving.
For the third time, the referee went to the monitor, and Cook’s claims were proven correct, as the ref overturned the call on replay.
Naturally, Andonovski was pleased with the VAR calls going his team’s way, and gave credit to the match officials, saying they were “100% correct.”
“For them to come out and make those calls while they’re under pressure from the fans and the home team and everything, I think it takes a lot of guts,” Andonovski said. “So I want to give them credit for that.”
The Spirit pushed and pushed the rest of the half, but Temwa Chawinga was the one who found the score sheet next in the 98th minute to seal the game at 2-0.
Up next: KC returns home next weekend, hosting the Utah Royals at CPKC Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m Central on Saturday.
Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.
This story was originally published March 22, 2025 at 8:54 PM.