KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Temwa Chawinga scored her fifth goal of the season and the Kansas City Current beat the Orlando Pride 1-0 on Friday night in the National Women’s Soccer League.
The win was a bit of payback for the Current, who were eliminated by the Pride 3-2 in the NWSL playoff semifinals in November. Orlando went on to win the championship.
In Friday’s other NWSL games, the Portland Thorns beat the Houston Dash 4-1, and the San Diego Wave won 1-0 on the road against Gotham FC. The match between Racing Louisville and the Seattle Reign was rescheduled for Saturday because of inclement weather.
Chawinga silenced the home fans at Orlando's Inter & Co Stadium by scoring in the 52nd minute. It was the 25th goal of Chawinga's NWSL career.
The Malawian capitalized on an error by Pride defender Kylie Nadaner in the box, scooping up the loose ball and scoring from 10 yards out.
The Pride attempted 11 shots to the Current’s 12, with the Kansas City edging shots on target 5-4.
Pride forward Barbra Banda took a game-high five shots, but just one forced a save from Lorena in the Kansas City goal.
The win keeps the Current (7-2-0) first in the standings, while the Pride (5-3-1) slips to third. It is the first time Orlando has been outside the top two spots this season.
