Connect with us

KC Current

Chawinga Helps the Current to Victory with Record-Setting Goal

Kansas City defeats Bay 1-0

Published

on

Temwa sets new NWSL record

By the time the Current and Bay FC met in San Jose late Saturday night, the NWSL had already witnessed a huge upset in this third-to-last weekend as Portland handed the Orlando Pride their first defeat all season. Also of note to KC fans was North Carolina’s 1-1 draw earlier Saturday which guaranteed the Current a home playoff match. But Kansas City was never going to be satisfied with simply ensuring themselves a single home postseason game and so they needed to maximize their points through these final few fixtures.

KC received some bad news before the kickoff as Bia Zaneratto was ruled out with a foot injury again. That meant that Nichelle Prince slotted into the nine with Chawinga and Cooper bracketing her and Debinha right behind her at the ten. Hutton rejoined the starting lineup next to LaBonta in the center of the pitch.

Meanwhile, KC’s old friend Pickett led a Bay FC side working hard to keep ahold of their spot in the playoff field.

 

FIRST HALF 

The game began in a rather inauspicious way for the visitors as Bay threatened twice within the first few minutes. Off of their second corner, a shot required a goal line clearance by former Bay woman, Kayla Sharples (who actually scored for Bay the last time these two teams met). Following a bit of a scrum in the KC box, play was stopped for several minutes as VAR called head official Danielle Chesky to the monitors to evaluate a possible handball against LaBonta. Interestingly, this check seemed to ignore the fact that Bay captain Menges had handled the ball moments before on the same play, but after an (unnecessarily long) check, play continued with no penalty awarded.

Granted this reprieve, Kansas City gradually grew into the match. Without any support on a breakaway, Temwa tried to dibble past five different Bay defenders and the last one simply presented a physical challenge that left Chawinga on the ground in obvious pain for several minutes. As deep as the Current roster is, fans had to be breathing a sigh of relief when Chawinga was able to jog off the field and reenter moments later.

Speaking of the Malawi native, she started today’s match tied with Sam Kerr (2019) for the single season league scoring record at 18. In the 35th minute, Chawinga did this:

 

Kansas City, you have the star of women’s soccer!

Besides the early corner kicks, Bay looked most dangerous coming down their left side with Hocking running at Mace. Once this required Schult to come up with an impressive kick save and another time that resulted in Mace committing a foul right outside the box. It was given as a yellow but once more VAR summoned Chesky to the monitors to decide about a possible DOGSO and red. After several more minutes of monitor time, the call was left unchanged. The yellow does mean that Mace will miss KC’s next match due to accumulation.

By the end of the half (which included nearly 12 minutes of stoppage time), the score remained 1-0 with Kansas City conceding 60% of the possession to the hosts, but equaling the total number of shots.

SECOND HALF

The second 45 unfolded without much in the way of clear opportunities for either team. In the 70th minute DiBernardo replaced Hutton to try to help see out the match. In the 75th minute, Mace went down with what appeared to be calf cramps and was soon replaced by Rodriguez with Ball coming in for Cooper as Vlatko shifted to a back five. To close out KC’s substitutions, Debinha and Prince made way for Feist and Magaia in the 87th minute.

As much as it would have allowed Kansas City to breathe easier through the final half (plus 7 minutes of stoppage time), the team seemed content to simply deny Bay FC from getting quality looks of their own. After a perplexing offsides call against LaBonta when she simply received a corner kick and tried to kill off the final few seconds, Bay blasted the ball ahead only for it to be intercepted and to hear the final whistle blow.

Kansas City finished with 12 shots to Bay’s 7 and 4 on target to Bay’s 3. Not only does Chawinga’s goal give her the new NWSL record with 19 on the season (her first in the US), but it gives the team 50 goals scored so far this year. Four more over their final two matches would see them get a team-wide seasonal record. And most importantly, the win and the three points that comes with it keeps the Current just a single point behind Gotham and at least temporarily bumps them two points clear of Washington. Again, if both Gotham (who plays at Orlando next weekend) and Washington drop any points and Kansas City wins out, KC will earn the second seed in the playoffs and be guaranteed home field advantage throughout.

 

Next Saturday, the Current are back in action for the final home match of the regular season as they host the San Diego Wave.

Recent Comments

KC Soccer Journal in your Inbox!

Be the first to know when news breaks, sign up to get all of our posts sent directly to your inbox.

Facebook

Follow us on Twitter