This KC Current duo had 2 major highlights Friday. They sparked 6th straight win

Halfway through the 2025 NWSL season, the Kansas City Current has created a clear gap at the top of the standings.

Kansas City picked up its sixth consecutive win Friday night, defeating Angel City FC 1-0 thanks to Bia Zaneratto’s second-half goal. The Current has totaled 33 points through its first 13 matches, posting an 11-2-0 record.

“It was a tough win,” head coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “For some reason we celebrated it a little bit more than the previous ones, when we won by two, three or four. In order to be successful in this league, sometimes you just have to find a way. And I’m very proud of all the players that were focused and concentrated all the way through and found a way.”

And there’s a reward: When the NWSL returns to play on August 1, the Current will start at least seven points ahead of the pack.

Zaneratto’s goal won Friday night’s game, but a highlight from one of her teammates — a compatriot at that — may have been the moment of the match.

The Kansas City Current invested in the goalkeeper position this offseason, bringing in Lorena from Cruzeiro in Brazil to be the team’s starter. Time and time again, she’s come up clutch.

And in the second half, locked in a scoreless draw, Lorena had her moment.

In the 56th minute, Elizabeth Ball tried to poke the ball away from Angel City star Alyssa Thompson. There wasn’t much contact, but it was enough for the referee to blow the whistle and point to the penalty spot, awarding Angel City a penalty.

Thompson stepped up, and Lorena made herself big. She waited, planted and parried Thompson’s penalty kick into the air. It floated high for a long time, eventually dropping and bouncing twice on the top of the crossbar before settling on the top of the net out of play.

Through a translator, Lorena said she tried to fake Thompson out on the penalty kick.

“I tried to see what she was feeling, how she ran to the ball, and I was able to make the save the way I wanted to,” Lorena said. “I tried to fake it, and then I saw she was kicking it to my right side, so I was able to make the save.”

The moment Lorena got a hand to it, CPKC Stadium erupted into a boisterous scream that sounded like it came from three times the 11,500 people it holds.

Chants of “that’s our keeper” and “nossa goleira” (the Brazilian Portuguese translation) erupted for minutes after.

“I was able to hear all the fans shouting after the save,” Lorena said. “Since the first couple games — the third game exactly — I was able to hear them speaking Portuguese and saying, ‘Our goalie, our goalie, nossa goleira.’ It’s amazing to hear and see and feel how the fans embraced me and the team.”

The Current got the all-important goal 13 minutes later, when Temwa Chawinga’s one-on-one opportunity with goalkeeper Angelina Anderson was saved; Zaneratto followed up, took a touch, and unleashed a missile of a strike off her left foot into the roof of the net.

Up next: The Current will play its next regular-season match on Aug. 1 against Racing Louisville FC. KC will also host Teal Rising Cup matches in mid-July.

In the meantime, several players have been called up to international duty for the upcoming break.

Lorena will compete in the Copa America with Brazil. Michelle Cooper, Claire Hutton and Izzy Rodriguez will represent the United States in a series of upcoming friendlies. And Nichelle Prince will represent Canada in a series of friendlies.

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

This story was originally published June 20, 2025 at 9:48 PM.