Temwa Chawinga scores again as KC Current wins wild, rainy matchup vs. Gotham FC

The Kansas City Current rode two goals within the game’s first 11 minutes to a 2-1 victory over New Jersey/New York Gotham FC on Saturday afternoon.

Michelle Cooper opened the scoring after Temwa Chawinga won the ball high up the field. Chawinga dished to Cooper for an easy finish to make it 1-0 in the third minute.

“We knew it was super important for us to get an early goal,” Cooper said in her first match back after representing the United States Women’s National Team last week. “We (Cooper and Chawinga) knew that we would play important roles in that. We’ve been working on this connection for the past year, and now the last couple of matches it’s been coming to fruition.”

Eight minutes later, Cooper’s cross to Chawinga was expertly finished by the league’s reigning MVP for her seventh goal of the year. Chawinga celebrated in the rainy downpour at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.

“It’s always easier when we as a team set up the pace and the tempo of the game and manage and control the rest of the game,” said Current coach Vlatko Andonovski. “It was a great start. I thought both goals were very nice goals.”

KC now has 27 points on the season, with 9 wins, 2 losses. The Current will have at least five points of separation atop the league standings depending on the rest of the weekend’s results.

Likewise, Chawinga is now tied atop the golden boot standings with Esther González (Gotham FC) and Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride).

The Current hung onto their lead, even as Gotham had multiple goals ruled out in the second half.

The first came from a VAR review. Emily Sonnett headed the ball into the net from a corner kick in the 49th minute. But on review, Sonnett was judged to have fouled Claire Hutton with a two-handed shove in the back, creating space for the header.

Then chaos ensued nearly 15 minutes later. Geyse’s cross into the box was headed away by Ellie Wheeler, but it went straight to Gotham forward Esther. Esther calmly placed her shot into the bottom corner of the goal.

Gotham had brought the ball back to the halfway line in celebrating the goal. Head referee Danielle Chesky blew the whistle for what Gotham thought was the restart of play. However, she was signaling the Current to bring the ball back to restart play as the goal was ruled out for offside.

Esther was offside on the initial ball in, but Wheeler’s headed clearance, albeit a misplay, should have reset the action. Much to Gotham’s protest, the goal was ruled out.

Andonovski praised his team for handling the stop-start nature and high emotions of the game.

“It’s not easy,” Andonovski said. “It’s not easy for the opponent as well. It’s hard to get into the rhythm, but we’ve dealt with moments like this before, and I felt like we handled it very well.”

Cooper said the team knew it had to “weather the storm.”

“We came together as a team about halfway through the second half,” Cooper said. “We said, ‘Everyone relax. Take your time. You’re doing the right things.’”

Vanessa DiBernardo’s own goal in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time made the scoreline 2-1, but the final whistle blew soon after.

Up next: Kansas City hosts Racing Louisville at CPKC Stadium at 6:30 p.m. next Saturday.

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

This story was originally published June 7, 2025 at 2:31 PM.