Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chawinga became the fastest player in NWSL history to score 25 career regular season goals on Friday when she scored in a 1-0 victory over the Orlando Pride. Chawinga reached the feat in 34 games.
“Happy for her, but also, I don’t think Temwa’s going to stop here,” Kansas City head coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “She’s got a lot more to offer.”
But Chawinga left the match in the 89th minute due to an injury.
Andonovski confirmed that Chawinga’s issue on Friday was related to an unspecified leg injury that the 2024 NWSL MVP and Golden Boot winner has dealt with throughout this season.
The win extended the Current’s lead atop the NWSL table to four points and avenged a 2024 semifinal loss to the Pride, who won the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship last year.
Kansas City, anchored by centerback Kayla Sharples, put in a gritty defensive performance against a talented Pride attack.
Chawinga scored in the 52nd minute when she ran onto a ball over the top that turned around Orlando’s defense.
“I’m very proud of the team,” Andonovski said. “To come here and win a game, you have to not just be very good and show lots of quality, you have to have a heart. If you don’t have a heart, you have no chance. And today, I think we showed heart as a team.”
The victory came at a potentially high cost, however. Midfielder Debinha and centerback Alana Cook also left the match injured in the second half.
Cook went straight down the tunnel to the locker room after having her left knee evaluated by the trainer.
Andonovski said he did not have any specific information to share on any of the injuries, “but all I can say is that I hope that it’s not anything serious and we have them back soon.”
Orlando has now lost three of its last five games and won only once in that stretch, a 3-2 win over Angel City FC after going down 2-0. The Pride equalized in stoppage time against the North Carolina Courage last week to salvage a point.
Orlando started last season on a 23-game unbeaten streak.
With the loss and the San Diego Wave‘s 1-0 win over Gotham FC on Friday, the Pride fell into a tie for third. The defending champions could fall as far as fifth place by the end of the weekend, depending on other results.
Andonovski was quick to caution that “the season is long” when asked about his team’s cushion in the NWSL Shield race, but he called Friday’s victory a confidence boost.
The Current’s goal is still to win a trophy, something they failed to do last year despite starting the 2024 season on a 15-game unbeaten streak and setting a league record for goals scored (57).
“We want to be the best team,” Sharples said. “We want to be peaking at the right moments. We want to win a final, and that’s the most important game. So, we just have to get the job done in these games in order to get there.”
