Match Report: Kansas City Current extends unbeaten streak to NWSL record 17 matches with 2-0 win over Houston Dash

KANSAS CITY (June 28, 2024) — The Kansas City Current (10-0-5, 35 pts., 1st place) made NWSL history Friday night in front of the eighth consecutive sold-out crowd at CPKC Stadium, beating the Houston Dash (3-7-5 , 14 pts, 12th place) 2-0 behind a double from striker Temwa Chawinga. Friday’s victory extended the Current’s winning streak, which dates back to the end of the 2023 season, to a league-record 17 games. The Current were kept off the scoresheet until the 77th minute, but Chawinga helped propel the club to victory with two goals in three minutes.

Those two goals marked Chawinga’s third brace of the season, bringing her goal total for the 2024 campaign to 11. Chawinga’s tally is not only the highest total in the NWSL, but also the club record for goals in a single season.

“I am very happy with the team’s performance tonight. You can’t be successful if you think you’re going to score five goals in every game, you can’t be successful if you don’t win 1-0, if you don’t score in the first minutes. All these little things are part of the process of building a successful team,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “I am very happy that the team didn’t give up.”

Chawinga’s third shot in the 26th minute was the first historic moment of the game. As her half-volley from inside Dash’s penalty area sailed just over Houston goalkeeper Jane Campbell’s net, Chawinga’s shot found the nearby Missouri River. It became the first shot in stadium history to reach the river, but stadium staff overcame the river’s strong current to recover the monumental strike.

Kansas City continued to push as the first half wore on. Debinha had two headers sail high in first-half added time, and a Chawinga effort met Campbell’s gloves four minutes into first-half added time. In total, Kansas City had 17 shots in the first half while Campbell made six saves as the game entered goalless at halftime.

In the 61st minute, a long shot from midfielder Claire Hutton fell to Chawinga in the Houston penalty area. After evading several defenders, Chawinga’s off-balance shot was deflected by a teammate and went just wide of the goal. A few minutes later, a corner from Rodriguez almost ended up in the back of the net. In the 69th minute, the Current almost executed a perfect counterattack for the first goal of the match. Chawinga collected a loose ball from a Dash corner and ran the length of the field before slipping a through ball to Alex Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer made a forward pass into Dash’s penalty area and fired a shot that beat Campbell, but it was ruled offside, allowing the game to remain scoreless.

Finally, the Courant broke through in the 77th minute. Rodriguez threw a through ball to Chawinga, who outplayed a Houston defender and latched on to the pass after hitting a Dash defender near the penalty spot. Campbell came out for the loose ball as Chawinga tried to shoot. Chawinga eventually collected the loose ball and slotted it home to open the scoring.

A few minutes later, a masterful effort from Chawinga doubled Kansas City’s lead. In the 80th minute, she took advantage of a back pass from a Dash defender and made a clean breakaway pass to Campbell. Chawinga was able to capitalize on the opportunity, rounding the Houston goalkeeper and rolling the ball into an empty net to give Current a 2-0 lead.

Kansas City finished the game with its fourth shutout of the 2024 season on Friday night. The shutout was the Current’s first since a 1-0 win at Utah on May 25. Additionally, the Current’s 28 shots against the Dash set a franchise single-game record for shots in a game.

Next up, the Current will host the Orlando Pride at CPKC Stadium in what is shaping up to be one of the marquee matchups of the 2024 NWSL regular season. Kansas City and Orlando hold the top two spots in the standings, and as of Friday, both teams are undefeated. The July 6 matchup between the Current and Pride will also serve as a farewell game in Kansas City for the club’s Olympic-qualified players.

The match will be broadcast locally on KMCI, 38 The Spot and can also be seen on Ion. In Kansas City, fans can listen to it on 90.9 The Bridge and on the KC Current app.

NWSL Match Report
Match: Kansas City Current vs. Houston Dash
Date: June 28, 2024
Location: CPKC Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Kickoff: 7:10 p.m. CT
Weather: 88 degrees, cloudy
Participation: 11,500

Discipline
75′ Houston – Puntigam (Yellow)

Rating
77′ Kansas City – Chawinga
80′ Kansas City – Chawinga

Summary of scores

Current Kansas City roster: Franch, Rodriguez, Ball, Ballisager Pedersen, Mace, LaBonta ©, Hutton (86′ Feist), Debinha (84′ Wheeler), Bia (46′ Lavogez), Chawinga, Cooper (67′ Pfeiffer (84′ Spaanstra))
Unused Substitutes: Steigleder, Scott, Silkowitz, Lauren

Houston Dash roster: Campbell ©, Lima, Jacobs, Nielsen, Petersen (58′ West), Patterson, Schmidt, Puntigam, Bachmann (82′ Alves), Ordóñez (74′ Nagasato), Alozie (74′ Olivieri)
Unused substitutes: Chapman, Briede, Ayson, Harris, McKinney