Match Recap: Kansas City Current Closes Regular Season Home Slate with 2-1 Victory over Washington Spirit

KANSAS CITY (Oct. 25, 2026) — The Kansas City Current (15-9-5, 50 pts., 4th place) closed out the regular season home slate at CPKC Stadium in emphatic fashion Sunday evening with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the Washington Spirit (16-9-4, 52 pts., 3rd place). The Spirit opened the scoring in the 12th minute, but midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta equalized with a strike 79 seconds later. Midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo continued the first-half scoring flurry in the 17th minute, as record-setting assist from midfielder Croix Bethune set DiBernardo up for what ultimately stood as the match-winning goal. Kansas City kept the visitors off the scoresheet for the remainder of the contest, earning a crucial one-goal victory to keep pace on a crowded NWSL table. 

Bethune’s assist on DiBernardo’s match-winning goal marked her 11th of the season, setting a new NWSL single season record. It also marked Bethune’s sixth game-winning assist of the 2026 campaign, which also set a single-season NWSL record. Sunday’s victory was the Current’s 11th home victory of the season, matching a franchise record set in 2025. It also extends the club’s record-long home unbeaten streak to 32 matches and the Current’s ongoing winning streak to four consecutive contests.  
 

"Our team knew this was a big game, a big opportunity against a really good team to test ourselves and to fight for a home playoff game for us and our fans,” said head coach Chris Armas. “We find out a lot about ourselves in these games. You can see that we're a really good team, we certainly have grit, we have quality and we have a way of playing. We really earned that victory tonight.”

All three goals in Sunday’s contest were scored across a five-minute stretch in the first half. The Spirit opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a goal from forward Clara Luvanga, but Kansas City equalized 79 seconds later. LaBonta kickstarted the move in the attacking third, squaring a ball out wide for forward Michelle Cooper on the right wing. Cooper pushed ahead into the 18-yard box and rolled a low ball across the penalty area that a Spirit defender redirected at the near post. 

With the ball bouncing in the penalty area, LaBonta burst ahead and fizzed a half-volleyed effort that trickled past both a Washington defender and Spirit goalkeeper Sandy MacIver before settling in the lower right corner of the goal. The goal marked LaBonta’s second of the season and the Current’s 38th goal scored at CPKC Stadium in 2026, setting a new single-season record for most goals scored at home. 

Kansas City took the lead for good three minutes later after a stellar individual effort from forward Haley Hopkins helped set up DiBernardo’s go-ahead strike. On a Spirit goal kick, Hopkins charged ahead into the visitors’ penalty area as Washington attempted to circulate the ball across its back line. Hopkins picked the ball off the foot of MacIver inside the six-yard box, then squared the ball behind her for a wide-open Bethune inside the penalty area. 

Spotting the incoming run of DiBernardo, Bethune rolled the ball across the face of goal that DiBernardo met in stride at the penalty spot. DiBernardo capped the move with a thunderous, curled strike that rippled the back of the net, giving Kansas City a 2-1 lead. 

The contest also marked a historic milestone for midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo, who made her 200th NWSL regular season appearance. DiBernardo is the fifth player in NWSL history to reach the milestone and the second youngest to do so. The goal marked DiBernardo’s first of the 2026 campaign — and since being reactivated from maternity leave in July 2024 — and her first in NWSL play since Nov. 17, 2024. 

Additionally, the assist marked Bethune’s 11th of the 2026 regular season, setting a new NWSL record for single-season assists. Bethune broke a tie with herself (2024, Washington), Cloé Lacasse (2026, Utah) and Tobin Heath (2016, Portland) for the league’s single-season record. Kansas City maintained a 2-1 lead as the halftime whistle sounded. 

The Spirit ramped up the pressure as the second half wore on, but the Current were up to the task defensively. A double-save at the near post from goalkeeper Lorena in the 77th minute highlighted several key defensive interventions in the second half that helped preserve the Current’s 2-1 victory. 

Sunday’s win vaulted the Current back up to fourth place on a crowded NWSL table with just one regular season match remaining. It also brought Kansas City to an even 50 points on the season for the third consecutive year, marked the Current’s franchise-record-tying 11th home victory of the season and extended Kansas City’s winning streak to four consecutive matches. 

In front of a record-setting crowd of 18,000 fans at CPKC Stadium and Current Landing for the club’s annual Fan Appreciation Day, Kanas City also extended its ongoing unbeaten streak at CPKC Stadium to a league-record 32 matches. The Current has amassed a 25-0-7 home record across that stretch. Sunday also secured the Current’s third consecutive season selling out every regular season match at CPKC Stadium — a feat no team in NWSL history has accomplished. 

Bethune’s assist to DiBernardo stood as the match-winning assist, marking her sixth game-winning assist of the 2026 campaign. That also marks a new NWSL single-season record. Kansas City’s four-match winning streak is the club’s longest of the season. Sunday’s come-from-behind win also gave the Current six on the season, matching 2014 Seattle for the most come-from-behind wins in a single season in NWSL history. Kansas City’s six wins and four draws generated from losing positions are also tied with 2014 Seattle for the most in league history. 

Kansas City officially secured a postseason berth Friday night following results across the NWSL. The top four teams on the final NWSL table will host a quarterfinal match, and the highest remaining seeds will host the semifinal contests. The 2026 NWSL Championship, presented by Google Pixel, will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. More information can be found HERE. 

Next weekend, Kansas City hits the road for the club’s final match of the regular season on NWSL Decision Day. With all eight NWSL matches kicking off simultaneously, the Current visits Racing Louisville FC on Sunday, Nov. 1. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. CT from Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Ky., and the match will have a to-be-announced broadcast designation across ESPN platforms. Fans in Kansas City can listen to the match over the air on 90.9 The Bridge, and an audio feed of the match will be available in English, Spanish or Portuguese on the KC Current App. 

As Kansas City gears up for a postseason push, the Current will host a watch party for next Sunday’s match at Current Landing, the waterfront mixed-use district anchored by CPKC Stadium and the Missouri River. Fans in attendance can look forward to a themed watch party celebrating the club’s Teal Time playoff campaign. Fan entry will begin at 3 p.m. and free tickets can be reserved HERE. 
 

NWSL Match Report 
Match: Kansas City Current vs. Washington Spirit 
Date: Oct. 25, 2026 
Venue: CPKC Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Kickoff: 4:08 p.m. CT/5:08 p.m. ET
Weather: 79 degrees, sunny
Attendance: 18,000  

Discipline 
48’ Kansas City – Bethune (Yellow)
88’ Kansas City – Ball (Yellow)

Scoring 
12’ Washington – Luvanga 
14’ Kansas City – LaBonta

17’ Kansas City – DiBernardo (Bethune)

Scoring Summary
                        1          2         F

Kansas City    2          0          2

Washington  1           0          1

Kansas City Current Lineup: Lorena, I. Rodriguez, Sharples, Robinson, Rouse, DiBernardo (75’ R. Rodríguez), LaBonta ©, Bethune (60’ Debinha), Chawinga, Hopkins, Cooper (84’ Ball)
Unused Substitutes: Jordan, White, Feist, Maëva, Gemelli, Hocking
 

Washington Spirit Lineup: MacIver, Rudd, Di Guglielmo (78’ Metayer), Carle, Morgan, Rodman, Santos (63’ Ngock), Sullivan ©, Hershfelt (20’ Bethi), Cantore (46’ Kouassi), Luvanga (63’ Hatch)

Unused Substitutes: Wojdelko, Tsé, Martínez, Bolt