How Michelle Cooper broke an NWSL record — and delivered the Current a road win

For nearly the first hour of a Monday night matchup against Angel City FC, the Kansas City Current didn’t take a shot.

When the Current finally did, in the 59th minute, KC sure made it count.

Fresh off the bench as a substitute, Michelle Cooper tapped home a cross from Haley Hopkins for the only goal in yet another KC Current victory. And this one, a 1-0 win, involved multiple broken NWSL records.

“Obviously, we want to stay humble in these moments, and we want to make sure that we know there’s still a lot of work that we need to do,” Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “But at the same time we do want to celebrate these moments because that’s what we work for.”

Most notably, the Current won its 19th match of the season — an NWSL record. The Current’s lead in the standings is now 16 points over second-place Washington. Monday night also marked KC’s 15th clean sheet in 2025.

Lorena posted her 13th clean sheet on the season, tying the NWSL single-season record. And Cooper scored the fastest goal after coming on as a substitute in league history, the Current said.

Andonovski made six changes to the lineup that beat Chicago 4-1 last week. The Current started with four teenagers: Katie Scott, Mary Long, Alex Pfeiffer and Claire Hutton. And Andonovski switched up the midfield and defensive pairings.

Despite the lack of shots or goals early on, he was pleased with how the group played.

“It was a tough game for the front three, especially,” Adnonovski said. “I thought that defensively, Angel City was very good. But they (the front three) fought well.”

The first 45 minutes were somewhat disjointed for both teams. The Current couldn’t get anything going into the final third and Angel City didn’t quite show how it wanted to attack.

Some of those younger KC players in the attack struggled to generate chances. It was only when Andonovski turned to the typical starters that things picked up.

Cooper came on as a sub in the 59th minute; shortly after, Hopkins hit a low, driven cross toward the back post, which Cooper got a touch on. She booted the ball into the back of the net. It was the match’s only goal.

Ally Sentnor was right there when Cooper scored, and she may have even gotten a touch on the ball. For the moment, anyway, it stands as Cooper’s record goal.

But Sentnor was pleased with the patience the group of starters showed, noting the importance of the energy the substitutes brought to the game.

“It just speaks to the team that we have,” Sentnor said, “that we can bring people on and in the first minute they come on and make a huge impact.”

Cooper knew the team wanted numbers in the box and timed her run perfectly. She said the efficiency of the Current’s chances is what mattered Monday night.

“Obviously, we didn’t have as many opportunities in the first half or in this game,” Cooper said. “But it’s not about the number of opportunities, it’s about how efficient we can be with them, and I think we showed that tonight.”

Cooper scored within the first 10 seconds after entering the field as a substitute. She also holds the record for the fastest goal in NWSL history, scoring 22 seconds into a game in 2023 against the Washington Spirit.

Up next: The Current plays host to NJ/NY Gotham FC on Saturday, with kickoff from CPKC Stadium set for 4 p.m. Central Time.

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

This story was originally published October 7, 2025 at 12:02 AM.