KC Current sets single-season wins, points records with Saturday matinee victory

The Kansas City Current held a one-goal halftime lead over NJ/NY Gotham FC during Saturday afternoon’s National Women’s Soccer League match at CPKC Stadium.

KC coach Vlatko Andonovski flexed the team’s muscle by bringing on Temwa Chawinga, who scored her 15th goal of the season five minutes into the second half.

That doubled the Current’s lead en route to a 2-0 victory that extended its unbeaten streak to 17 NWSL games.

“I would probably be crying if I saw Temwa coming on for the second half after I busted my butt against Deb (Debinha) and the rest of the front line,” Current defender Gabrielle Robinson said after the game. “She’s our little cheat code.”

The Current became the first team in NWSL history to win 20 league matches in a season. The Current has earned 62 points in 2025, also a new single-season record.

“Lots of credit goes to the players,” Andonovski said. “They’re the actors, they’re the ones that get things done on the field. But there’s so much work that is done behind the scenes. … There is a big group of staff, of people that are working day in and day out.”

Andonovski said that when he returns to the stadium after a game to collect his things — sometimes as late as midnight — the staff is often still there working.

“Because they want to do everything possible for these players to be prepared,” Andonovski said. “They walk into the environment with the mindset that they want to be the best version of themselves, regardless of what their role is.

“And it’s such a cool environment that no one has to tell you anything. The environment pushes you to be the best that you can be, whether you’re a coach, player, medical person, equipment, high performance.”

Saturday’s result reflected that team-wide effort.

Bia Zaneratto opened the scoring 34 minutes in. A corner kick play recycled back out to Izzy Rodriguez, who whipped in a cross that Zaneratto headed into the side netting. The goal was Zaneratto’s seventh of the year, the assist Rodriguez’s sixth. Rodriguez now leads the NWSL in assists.

Zaneratto, meanwhile, assisted Chawinga’s goal.

Gotham’s Jess Carter misplayed a pass by KC’s Hailie Mace that otherwise wouldn’t have caused Gotham any danger. But Zaneratto collected possession and ran toward goal, slipping a pass to Chawinga, who sneaked her shot underneath Shelby Hogan.

“I played with Bia in China,” Chawinga said. “She knows my runs (and) where to put the ball. I was coming from (off the) bench, so my job was to score a goal. And I’m happy I scored.”

The Current saw out the remaining 40 minutes plus stoppage time to preserve a 14th clean sheet for Lorena, which marked another league record: the most clean sheets in a single season.

“She has done tremendous,” Andonovski said. “I want to give a lot of credit to our goalkeeper coach, who has done a tremendous job to prepare her for all the challenges. It’s not easy for a new goalkeeper to come into the league and just dominate the league right off the bat. So a lot of credit to her.”

Up next: The Current next Saturday travels to the Lone Star State to take on the Houston Dash, who will be fighting for a playoff spot. That match kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Central.

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

This story was originally published October 11, 2025 at 6:28 PM.