KC Current ousted in NWSL playoff opener on home turf. So what happened?

The Kansas City Current had the best record in the history of the National Women’s Soccer League this season.

Come playoff time, such accolades matter not.

The Current learned that the hard way in Sunday’s NWSL quarterfinal match at CPKC Stadium. Winner of 21 games against just three losses all year, winner of the NWSL Shield and holder of the playoffs’ No. 1 seed, the host Current exited the postseason with a 2-1 defeat in extra time.

Jaedyn Shaw put Gotham FC ahead in the 68th minute. As the clock ticked well over 90 minutes and into stoppage time, KC’s Ellie Wheeler provided an equalizer in stunning fashion to send the match to extra time.

But it was Gotham’s Katie Stengel who stole the show with a goal deep in extra time. Her strike in the 121st minute of competition sent the visitors on to a semifinal showdown against the Orlando Pride.

Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski called it a game of margins.

“It was small things at the end that decided the game,” Andonovski said. “Obviously, we’re disappointed from the results of the final outcome. But other than that, there’s nothing else that I can say that I’m disappointed (about). I think that our players gave it (their) all.”

The Current was up against it throughout Sunday’s frigid quarterfinal. The temperature never made it out of the low-30s, and wind chills dipped into the low 20s.

KC superstar Temwa Chawinga missed the game due to injury, as did Michelle Cooper, a late scratch with a foot injury. With the Current shorthanded vs. Gotham — a team many expected to be a higher seed, considering its talent — the game was sure to pose a challenge.

Kansas City had the better scoring chances in a scoreless first half. Nichelle Prince’s one-on-one opportunity with Gotham goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger could’ve been placed better. Berger also made an excellent save on Ally Sentnor’s quick shot from distance that seemed headed for the top corner.

But nothing broke through until the second half. Shaw got the better positioning on Kayla Sharples, and turned her to go free toward the goal. She dribbled in without much resistance before placing a shot low into the far corner.

The Current had to pull quite a few strings personnel-wise. No move was bigger than when Elizabeth Ball came off with a knee injury. Wheeler entered the game as a substitute in her place, while Hailie Mace shifted inside from right back to center back.

Late in the game, as the Current grew desperate for a goal, Wheeler’s crosses from the right-hand flank into the box provided some danger until the 96th minute. That’s when she cut inside to the left; Berger anticipated a cross and she instead whipped a left-footed shot to the near post.

Wheeler’s goal sent CPKC Stadium into a state of euphoria as Current teammates tackled her near midfield.

But the glee wouldn’t last long. Stengel’s shot, off the underside of the crossbar in the match’s dying moments, put an end to the Current’s season.

“Once again, it’s a game of margins,” Andonovski said. If the ball goes one inch higher, it will hit the crossbar and go out. One inch lower … hits the crossbar and goes in.”

After it was over, the Current players huddled up for one last time in a circle on the pitch at CPKC Stadium. KC captain Lo LaBonta said that this was the tightest-knit locker room she’d ever been a part of.

“We were fighting to win for the city, but we were doing it for the person next to us as well,” she said.

LaBonta explained that for some in that huddle, it would be the last time they’d be part of the team.

“That’s why it hurt,” she said. “That’s why you saw a lot of tears in there. You know, some people are retiring, some people are going to other teams. And we just wanted to do it (win) for them.”

With the 2025 season cut shorter than they’d like, LaBonta knows the focus will now turn to 2026.

“We would have liked to go further and be in that championship game,” she said. “We’ll have a lot to learn from this game going into next year. But this game will just fuel what we want to do next year.”

This story was originally published November 9, 2025 at 2:34 PM.