Chawinga brace powers Kansas City Current to Summer Cup title

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chawinga scored twice in the first half on Friday at Toyota Field to lift her team past NJ/NY Gotham FC, 2-0 in the final of the inaugural NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup.

The brace was Chawinga’s fourth in all competitions this year. She recently broke the National Women’s Soccer League’s single-season scoring record. She has scored 20 goals in 25 games, with one game left in the season.

She opened the scoring on Friday in the 25th minute when she got in behind Gotham’s defense and chipped a shot over goalkeeper Cassie Miller.

Twelve minutes later, Chawinga struck again on another sequence that started with midfielders Claire Hutton and Lo’eau LaBonta. Replays showed that Chawinga looked offside on the second goal, but video review was not utilized for the Summer Cup.

«She is a finisher,» LaBonta said about Chawinga. «You already know that she’s the Golden Boot leader, probably about to be the winner. You just give her the ball and she works magical things.»

The Summer Cup was held primarily during the summer Olympic break for the NWSL and featured all 14 teams from the U.S. top flight competing with six teams from Mexico’s first division. Gotham FC and Kansas City won their respective groups before winning the semifinals in August. All four semifinalists were from the NWSL.

«There is something to it, building a winning mentality,» Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski said. «You can’t win a big trophy if you don’t win the small ones. … It’s a good habit to have. Winning is a habit.»

An announced crowd of 3,668 fans turned up in San Antonio, which is not home to an NWSL or professional women’s soccer team. Toyota Field ‘s capacity is around 8,000.

Gotham FC and Kansas City are third and fourth in the NWSL regular-season standings and are separated by only one point heading into the final round of play. Kansas City started most of its usual starting lineup on Friday, including Chawinga, who was subbed off at halftime.

Gotham’s roster was stretched thin by injuries and personal commitments, as well as international absences during the FIFA window. Gotham signed seven national team replacement players ahead of the match just to fill out a full gameday roster. Among them was Mana Shim, who was part of the team’s NWSL Championship run last year, and 14-year-old McKenna «Mak» Whitham.