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

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

The two scores marked Chawinga’s third brace of the season as she upped 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’m very happy with how the team performed tonight. You can’t be successful if you think you’re going to score five goals every game, you can’t be successful if you don’t win 1-0, if you don’t score in the first couple of minutes. All these little things are part of the process of building a successful team,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “I’m very happy that the team didn’t give up.”

Chawinga’s third shot in the 26th minute provided the first historical moment of the match. While her half-volleyed effort from inside the Dash penalty area sailed just high of Houston goalkeeper Jane Campbell’s net, Chawinga’s shot did find the nearby Missouri River. The shot became the first in stadium history to reach the river, but stadium personnel overcame the river’s strong current to retrieve the monumental strike.

Kansas City continued to push as the first half progressed. Debinha had a pair of headers sail high in first half stoppage time, and a weaving Chawinga effort met the gloves of Campbell in the four minutes into first half stoppage time. In total, Kansas City had 17 first-half shots while Campbell made six saves as the match entered halftime scoreless.

In the 61st minute, a long-range effort from midfielder Claire Hutton fell to Chawinga in the Houston penalty area. After evading multiple defenders, Chawinga’s off-balanced strike deflected off a teammate and rolled just wide of goal. Minutes later, a corner kick from Rodriguez nearly pinballed into the back of the net. In the 69th minute, the Current nearly executed a perfect counterattack for the game’s opening goal. Chawinga collected a loose ball from a Dash corner kick and ran the length of the pitch before sliding a through ball to Alex Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer took a touch forward into the Dash penalty box and fired a strike past Campbell, but she was ruled offside, keeping the match scoreless.

Finally, the Current broke through in the 77th minute. Rodriguez launched a through ball forward for Chawinga, who out-muscled a Houston defender and latched onto the pass after it struck a Dash defender near the penalty spot. Campbell came out for the loose ball as Chawinga attempted to shoot. Chawinga ultimately corralled the loose ball and steered it home to open the scoring.

Minutes later, a supreme effort from Chawinga helped double Kansas City’s lead. In the 80th minute, she pounced on an errant back pass from a Dash defender and had a clean breakaway at Campbell. Chawinga buried the chance, taking a touch around the Houston goalkeeper and rolling the ball into an empty net to give the Current a 2-0 lead.

Kansas City saw the match out from there as the club earned its fourth shutout of the 2024 season on Friday night. The shutout marked the Current’s first since a 1-0 victory at Utah on May 25. Additionally, the Current’s 28 shots against the Dash marked a single-game franchise record for shots in a match.

Next up, the Current welcome the Orlando Pride to CPKC Stadium in what projects to be one of the marquee matchups of the 2024 NWSL regular season. Kansas City and Orlando occupy the top two spots in the league table and, as of Friday, both squads are unbeaten. The July 6 match between the Current and Pride also serves as Kansas City’s sendoff match for the club’s Olympic-bound 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 along 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
Venue: CPKC Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Kickoff: 7:10 p.m. CT 
Weather: 88 degrees, cloudy
Attendance: 11,500

Discipline
75’ Houston – Puntigam (Yellow)

Scoring
77’ Kansas City – Chawinga
80’ Kansas City – Chawinga 

Scoring Summary

Kansas City Current Lineup: 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 Lineup: 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