Match Report: Kansas City Current caps historic 2024 regular season home slate with 4-1 victory over San Diego Wave

KANSAS CITY (Oct. 19, 2024) — The Kansas City Current (15-3-7, 52pts., 2nd place) finished the home portion of the 2024 regular season slate in style, downing the San Diego Wave (5-13-7, 22pts., 13th place) 4-1 Saturday afternoon at CPKC Stadium. Forward Michelle Cooper opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, and an own goal, in a play started by Cooper, gave the Current a 2-0 lead. Then, in the 54th minute forward Temwa Chawinga made more NWSL history with her 20th goal of the regular season, extending her NWSL single-season record. The goal also made her the first player in history to score against all 13 other teams in a single season. Midfielder Debinha capped the match with a goal in the 80th minute on an assist from forward Nichelle Prince, who marked her 100th career NWSL regular season appearance with a multi-assist performance. 

Saturday’s match also marked the final regular season NWSL home match for midfielder Desiree Scott, whose legendary career was honored throughout the contest. Fans turned out to celebrate Scott, her career and this historic first season at CPKC Stadium. With attendance of 11,500 fans, the Current became the first team in NWSL history to sell out every home game. Scott played the final ten minutes of Saturday’s match, entering the pitch to a thunderous standing ovation from the 13th   from the 13th consecutive sellout crowd at CPKC Stadium. 

"Obviously, it’s [been] an incredible year and it’s an incredible turnaround,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “As we stated before, where the team was last year to where it is now is a testament to what these players were able to do. The new players that came in, I thought they fit well and helped us build a team and perform in a way that, when teams come to CPKC Stadium, they fear us. It’s not that we’re arrogant or cocky, I think that we use the energy from the fans, we use the energy of the stadium, we have great players and a great team, and we take that in our advantage. It’s been an awesome year so far and I hope that we’re going to go as far as possible.” 

Chawinga nearly opened the scoring inside the first two minutes of the match, getting a clean look at goal from about 12 yards out after weaving through the Wave’s defense. However, her left-footed strike rolled just wide of San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan’s net. 

Chawinga’s chance marked the lone offensive action in the early going, as the first shot on target of the match did not come until the 21st minute. The Current’s scoring opportunity again came from Chawinga, who fired a shot that Sheridan snared, but it lit a spark that led to a relentless offensive showing from the Current. 

One minute later, Cooper opened the scoring with a clinical finish. Kansas City forced a Wave turnover in the middle third of the pitch and instantly pushed the ball up the right wing. Cooper played a ball forward for midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo and, from the corner of the San Diego penalty area, she slid a dangerous ball across goal. A San Diego defender stretched to block the cross, but the ball sat up perfectly for Cooper at the top of the penalty box, and she darted forward to fire a left-footed strike into the back of the net.  

Kansas City continued to push forward in search of more goals and, minutes later, an own goal doubled the Current’s lead. Defender Ellie Wheeler played a long ball forward for fellow defender Izzy Rodriguez and Rodriguez fired a deep cross towards the back post. The ball fell to Cooper and, from an acute angle, Cooper lobbed a shot that Sheridan batted into the back of the net. 

Goalkeeper Almuth Schult reacted well to deny the Wave’s best scoring opportunity of the opening half, when a corner kick took a deflection off a Current defender and ricocheted towards goal. However, Schult reacted well and made a diving stop to maintain the Current’s two-goal lead. Kansas City took its 2-0 lead into the locker room. 

The Current took firm control of the match in the second half. In the 54th minute, Chawinga notched her league-record 20th goal of the regular season on an excellent feed from Prince. The Canadian international was played forward and, from deep inside the Wave’s penalty area, slid a pass across San Diego’s six-yard box to a wide open Chawinga, who hammered the ball into the back of the net. In addition to extending her own league record, Chawinga’s goal made her the first player to score against every NWSL team in a single season in a 10+ team league. 

Prince picked up another assist in the 80th minute, sliding a ball forward for midfielder Debinha to kickstart a Current counterattack. Debinha pushed forward toward goal and finished the chance with a left-footed strike for Kansas City’s fourth and final goal of the contest. Debinha’s goal marked the Current’s 54th of the 2024 NWSL regular season, which is tied with the 2019 North Carolina Courage for the NWSL regular season team scoring record. With one regular season match remaining, the Current have an opportunity to be the highest-scoring team in NWSL history. 

San Diego did find a goal in the 88th minute with a long-range strike from forward Delphine Cascarino. The goal snapped the Current’s two-match shutout streak and marked the first time an opponent has scored a goal against Kansas City’s defense since Sept. 1. 

The Current closed its 2024 regular season home slate on Saturday but are guaranteed at least one more match at CPKC Stadium in 2024. Kansas City clinched at least one home match in the 2024 NWSL Playoffs, presented by Google Pixel, but is well-positioned to earn another following Saturday’s match. The Current are currently in 2nd place on the NWSL table, two points ahead of both the Washington Spirit and NJ/NY Gotham FC. With a top two finish, the Current would not have to play a single postseason match outside the friendly confines of CPKC Stadium should Kansas City continue to advance. 

Playoff season tickets are on sale now to Season Ticket Members. Current Club will have priority access to playoff tickets at CPKC Stadium. Tickets will go on sale to Current Club members Oct. 28.

The Current will now play for a championship next week as the club travels to San Antonio, Texas for the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup Championship Oct. 25 against NJ/NY Gotham FC. Next Friday’s match kicks off at 7:00 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+. Fans in Kansas City can listen to the action on KC Current Radio. Kansas City’s final match of the NWSL regular season comes Nov. 3 in Chicago against the Chicago Red Stars. 

NWSL Match Report
Match: Kansas City Current vs. San Diego Wave FC
Date: October 19, 2024
Venue: CPKC Stadium, Kansas City MO
Kickoff: 12:05 p.m. CT/10:05 a.m. PT
Weather: 70 degrees, sunny
Attendance: 11,500

Discipline
75’ San Diego – Morroni (Yellow)

Scoring
22’ Kansas City – Cooper 
31’ Kansas City – Own Goal (Sheridan)
54’ Kansas City – Chawinga (Prince)
80’ Kansas City – Debinha (Prince)
88’ San Diego – Carrasco

Scoring Summary

Kansas City Current Lineup: Schult, Rodriguez, Sharples, Cook (71’ Ballisager), Wheeler, LaBonta (c), Hutton, DiBernardo (78’ Feist), Chawinga (71’ Debinha), Prince, Cooper (78’ Magaia)
Unused Substitutes: Franch, Steigleder, Ball, Scott, Jereko

San Diego Wave Lineup: Sheridan (c), Torpey, Girma, McNabb, Morroni, Colaprico (46’ Shaw), McCaskill (63’ Sanchez), Van Egmond, Cascarino, Jones (46’ Ali), Doniak (81’ Carusa)
Unused Substitutes: Westphal, Messner, Lundkvist, Bennett, Beall