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.
Sam Coffey scores in dominant win for Thorns
Sam Coffey converted a penalty kick and assisted on Payton Linnehan's goal for the Thorns on the road in Texas.
Thorns head coach Rob Gale made six changes to his starting lineup with an eye on the CONCACAF W Champions Cup semifinal against UANL Tigres in Monterrey, Mexico, on Wednesday.
Rookie Pietra Tordin scored her first career goal after some nifty footwork in the 26th minute. Linnehan made it 2-0 when she curled in a pass from Coffey on her left foot at the 30-minute mark.
Coffey got Portland’s third when she converted a penalty kick in first-half stoppage time. It was the sixth penalty kick awarded to the Thorns this season, the most in the NWSL.
After the break, Caiya Hanks cut in from the wing and bent the ball into the top corner to make it 4-0.
The Dash got a consolation when Portland defender Sam Hiatt tried to block a shot from Michelle Alozie, but the ball ricocheted into the Thorns’ net in the 75th minute.
Teenager Ascanio nets winner for Wave
Seventeen-year-old Kimmi Ascanio got the winning goal for the Wave in New Jersey.
Ascanio has scored three goals in her last four matches for the Wave. The win also propelled San Diego (5-2-2) into second place in the NWSL standings.
Ascanio picked up a loose ball on the edge of the box, took a touch past Gotham defender Mandy Freeman, and scored in the 30th minute.
The Wave controlled the tempo of the match with 62% of the possession. While Gotham outshot the Wave 10-6, the teams were tied for shots on target with two.
Gotham (3-4-3) is winless in its last three games.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Theo Lloyd-hughes, The Associated Press
