September 1, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
Kansas City Current News Release
CARY, N.C. – The Kansas City Current (10-3-5, 35pts., 3rd place) closed its two-game road swing with a 2-1 loss against the North Carolina Courage Sunday afternoon. In a match that featured torrential downpours throughout the second half and a 92-minute weather delay due to inclement weather, Current forward Temwa Chawinga opened the scoring with a history-making goal in the 62nd minute. The goal marked Chawinga’s seventh consecutive NWSL match with a goal, which set a new league record.
North Carolina found the equalizer in the 67th minute then, in the 80th minute, the match entered a weather delay that extended just beyond an hour-and-a-half. Both sides had quality chances when the match resumed, but the Courage found the winner with a goal from Brianna Pinto in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.
“They punished us on the opportunities that they had, and I think that we need to learn how to take care of games,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “We cannot give up goals and expect to be successful.”
After a cagey start, the Current recorded its first shot on target in the 14th minute. On a second-chance ball following a Kansas City corner kick, forward Nichelle Prince served in a cross that found Chawinga in the center of the Courage penalty area. Chawinga’s header went straight to Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy.
In the 20th minute, heroic defending from Prince and defender Alana Cook proved paramount in keeping the match level. A Courage free kick fell to the back post, and multiple North Carolina attackers had looks at an unoccupied net to take the lead. Prince blocked the first attempt, then the ball fell for North Carolina midfielder Narumi Miura. Preventing a certain goal, Cook stretched to clear Miura’s shot off the line.
The Current took hold of the opening half from there. Midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo curled a shot just wide in the 36th minute from inside the Courage penalty area, and defender Ellie Wheeler capped an impressive series of dekes with a strike that sailed high in the third minute of first-half stoppage time. Wheeler’s effort marked the last action of the first half as the sides entered the locker room knotted at zero.
Kansas City nearly went ahead in the opening minutes of the second half. Forward Debinha had two quality looks in the 47th minute, the first of which came after a Courage turnover. Prince made a perfect feed to Debinha…