‘Two GOATs’: Temwa Chawinga delivers historic hat trick in Current win vs. Stars
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- Temwa Chawinga scored first NWSL regular-season hat trick in Current history in 3-0 win.
- Kansas City improved to 4-4-0 and extended its home unbeaten streak to 20 matches.
- Chawinga made her fourth start of the season after missing time recovering from injury.
Kansas City Current fans have had to wait longer than normal for Temwa Chawinga’s first goal of the 2026 NWSL season.
They didn’t have to wait long for the second ... or third.
Kansas City won its second straight match Sunday with a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Stars in front of a lively Mother’s Day crowd that included co-owners Brittany and Patrick Mahomes.
All three goals at CPKC Stadium came from the Current’s leading goalscorer of the last two seasons.
“It’s so amazing,” Chawinga said. “... I’m really happy. I scored a first hat trick in NWSL (play), so I’m really happy.”
Chawinga’s opening goal Sunday, which came right at the 22-minute mark, was fortunate for a couple of reasons. But there was no doubt about the finish.
Ally Sentnor pressed a Chicago player into a turnover, as Bayley Feist intercepted the pass and redirected the ball toward Michelle Cooper on the right. Cooper immediately passed ahead to Croix Bethune, who cut back in the box to avoid Chicago’s Kathrin Hendrich but didn’t see a second defender, Sam Staab, chasing from behind.
Staab attempted to kick the ball away, but kicked it right off Bethune’s foot. The ball rolled across the edge of the 6-yard box to Chawinga, who scored the tap-in. Bethune was credited with the assist.
While some luck was needed for the 1-0 advantage, the Current had already recorded a pair of dangerous chances, even while Chicago had more of the ball in the first half with 58.2% possession. Each team recorded five shots in the first half, with the Current placing one on target, Chicago two.
That equation changed dramatically in the opening moments of the second half. Chawinga scored her second goal less than 90 seconds out of halftime with goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher out of position.
Naeher tried to defend a Cooper cross but only parried it as far as Chawinga, who slotted her shot past a defender into an open net.
“I do spend a lot of time working on my crosses and going 1v1, so to be able to finally see them work out — and whenever I do see them work out on the field — I’m so happy,” said Cooper.
Cooper noted she tried to drive her cross low to create that exact scenario.
“I think starting on the right foot was huge for us today, and that’s exactly what happened,” Cooper continued.
Two minutes after that, Chawinga won possession back for Kansas City, and the Current, after passing the ball around, moved into the attacking third. Lo LaBonta, Bethune, Sentnor and Feist all got a touch in the buildup before Cooper played Chawinga in on goal.
Chawinga made no mistake with her shot right as the clock reached 49 minutes.
“I’m just coming back from injury, so I’m working hard,” Chawinga said. “... This game was my time to score. I appreciate Cooper and my teammates. They were giving me a lot of balls to score goals.”
Chawinga narrowly missed another goal via a header in the 76th minute and was subbed off shortly after to a big ovation.
Another highlight from the match came when Chawinga celebrated one of her goals by miming like she was tipping her hat to the crowd, an idea she said came from Bethune. From the stands, Patrick Mahomes celebrated in response by tipping his cap, which drew a laugh and smile from Chawinga as she spoke about it after the match.
“I didn’t see it (live), but when I went on Instagram I just saw it posted,” Chawinga said. “... I just said, ‘Wow.’”
“Two GOATs, two GOATs,” Cooper interjected.
Chawinga, who has missed time recovering from injury this year, made her fourth start of the season. She entered Sunday’s match with no goals and one assist after back-to-back seasons winning both the NWSL MVP award and Golden Boot. She finished 2024 with 20 goals, six assists and 2025 with 15 goals, three assists.
“From everything that I understand, the best is still yet to come,” Current coach Chris Armas said of Chawinga’s recovery. “But today she was dangerous.”
As Chawinga begins to look more like herself — recording the first NWSL regular-season hat trick in Current history — so too is Kansas City.
The Current (4-4-0, 12 points) began May with a 2-1 win over the North Carolina Courage, after which Armas noted the match was largely won by KC’s first-half performance.
That match was also notable because it was the Current’s first time scoring first in a match this season. And the Current’s aggressive press and stout defense finally resembled that of last year’s NWSL Shield-winning team.
“You can see in the world of football now, we all know, the best attacking still comes from good defending,” Armas said. “At least that’s how we’re going to play here, force mistakes.”
In fact, with Sunday’s win the Current has won three of four overall following a stretch of three straight defeats — including a loss to Chicago on March 22.
“We knew we had to take it to them this time,” Cooper said. “Last time, we were still trying to find our footing. ... Now we’ve really settled in.”
KC outshot Chicago 18-11 with a 9-4 advantage in shots on target and 6-3 advantage on corners Sunday. Notably, the Current’s home unbeaten streak also reached 20 matches. It’s the longest active streak in the league.
“You can see things are heating up,” Armas said.
If there was any bad news, it came in the 67th minute when Bethune was involved in a collision and stayed down on the pitch.
Bethune, who has two goals and two assists in seven starts this season, eventually got back to her feet and was subbed off after a stoppage of about four minutes.
“Physically, she’s fine,” Armas said. “She took a knock, but she’s good. No issues there.”
Chicago dropped to 2-7-0 (six points) with the defeat.
Up next: The Current returns to action Friday, May 15, against the Houston Dash. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at CPKC Stadium, with a national broadcast on Prime Video.
This story was originally published May 10, 2026 at 1:59 PM.
