Match Report: Kansas City Current Maintains Lead Atop NWSL Table After 2-0 Victory at Portland Thorns

PORTLAND, Ore. (Aug. 23, 2025) — The Kansas City Current (14-2-1, 43 pts., 1st place) notched its sixth consecutive National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) road victory Saturday night, defeating the Portland Thorns (7-5-5, 26 pts., 5th place) 2-0 at Providence Park. Defender Ellie Wheeler got the scoring started just 55 seconds into the match with a perfectly placed headed goal on a feed from Izzy Rodriguez. Wheeler then set up forward Temwa Chawinga’s breakaway finish in the 71st minute as the Current extended their unbeaten streak to 10 consecutive matches.

Goalkeeper Lorena earned her NWSL-leading ninth clean sheet of the 2025 regular season, recording four crucial saves as Kansas City earned its 10th shutout of the 2025 campaign for a new single-season franchise record. Lorena is now the 14th goalkeeper in league history to reach nine regular season clean sheets. Kansas City, which maintains its 12-point advantage at the top of the table, now has five straight clean sheets to equal the longest regular season shutout streak in league history.

"We stayed disciplined and organized throughout the game....there were so many good things the team did tonight against a very good opponent in a hostile environment — loud, energetic — so I can say that I'm very proud of the team," said Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski. "Tonight, we did a lot of things well. I knew there would be moments where we would suffer. I'm proud of the players that accepted that fact and were willing to suffer and persevere through those difficult moments and grind out an important victory for us."

Kansas City applied pressure from the opening whistle to find a breakthrough early on. After winning a throw-in in Portland’s attacking third from kickoff, Rodriguez hoisted the ball for forward Bia Zaneratto in the penalty area. Zaneratto held the ball up and returned it to Rodriguez on the left wing, and Rodriguez rolled the ball forward before firing a curled ball toward a wide-open Wheeler. Wheeler made no mistake with her opportunity, evading Portland’s defense with a looping run that made her free at the back post. She met the cross perfectly and sent in a header to the top left corner to give Kansas City a lead it ultimately would not relinquish.

Wheeler’s goal came just 55 seconds into the match, marking the third fastest goal of the 2025 regular season and the second fastest regular season goal in club history. It also marked Wheeler’s first goal of the year and second career regular season goal. Kansas City extended its NWSL-best first half goal count to 21 with Wheeler’s early score, and the Current has now outscored opponents 21-1 in the opening 45 minutes this season.

The assist marked Rodriguez’s fifth of the season, which leads the league. Rodriguez tied fellow defender Hailie Mace’s club record of 10 regular season assists.

Lorena, who was first called into action Saturday night with a routine stop from distance in the sixth minute, made a tremendous diving stop in the 12th minute to preserve the Current’s advantage. Portland forward Deyna Castellanos drove a shot from long range on target, but Lorena expertly dove to deny the home team’s chance and recovered well to collect the follow-up cross into Kansas City’s penalty area.

The Current generated several threatening scoring opportunities as the first half progressed and, just before halftime, Chawinga rattled the post from inside Portland’s penalty area after Zaneratto played her through on goal in the 45th minute. The effort marked the final action of the opening half as the Current took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

Kansas City’s defense again came up big in the second half with several key interventions. In the 61st minute, defender Kayla Sharples made a well-timed tackle to block a shot on target from Castellanos. Three minutes later, Lorena made another diving save to keep out an effort from defender Reyna Reyes. Thorns midfielder Mimi Alidou hammered a goal-bound effort in the 66th minute that seemed destined for the back of the net, but Lorena once again made an incredible dive to keep the ball out.

Five minutes later, Wheeler launched a ball behind Portland’s back line for Chawinga, who met the pass in stride for a breakaway. Chawinga took multiple touches forward and rolled the ball under Thorns goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold and into the center of the goal to put the Current up by two. The goal marked Chawinga’s 11th of the season as she now regains the Golden Boot race lead with her two assists winning the tiebreaker. Additionally, Chawinga is now the first player in NWSL history to score in six straight regular season road matches. Wheeler’s assist marked the first of her professional career.

The Thorns pushed for a lifeline as the second half wore on, but Kansas City did enough to keep the hosts off the scoresheet to earn the 2-0 victory. The Current has now held opponents scoreless for 452 minutes of regular season play, the second longest streak in franchise history – one minute shy of the record of 453 minutes set earlier this season.

Midfielder Ally Sentnor made her first Current start and logged 61 minutes. After being taken off the season ending injury (SEI) list Friday, defender Gabrielle Robinson made her return for the first time in 455 days. Kansas City also became the second team in NWSL history to beat Portland five consecutive times in regular season play, with Seattle being the first to do so in a five-match stretch from 2019 through 2021.

The Current closes their August slate at CPKC Stadium next Saturday when they host the North Carolina Courage on Aug. 30 at 6:30 p.m. CT. The match will broadcast nationally on ION and fans in Kansas City can catch a simulcast of the contest on KMCI, 38 the Spot. Fans can tune into the KC Current App to listen to the match in English, Spanish or Portuguese, and the match will broadcast locally over the air on 90.9 The Bridge.

Limited single-match tickets for 2025 regular season home matches are now on sale to the general public. The best way to ensure you won’t miss a second of the action at CPKC Stadium is by joining the Current Club, the Current’s trailblazing fan membership experience. Focused on ensuring fans continue to be able to access exclusive opportunities, members can unlock special benefits like priority access to single match tickets, members-only gifts and discounts, access to live and virtual events, exclusive content and more. 2025 Season Ticket Member Account Holders are already enrolled in Current Club at no additional cost. Click HERE for more information about the Current Club. 

NWSL Match Report  
Match: Portland Thorns FC vs. Kansas City Current  
Date: August 23, 2025  
Venue: Providence Park, Portland, Ore.
Kickoff: 7:05 p.m. PT/9:05 p.m. CT 
Weather: 91 degrees, sunny 
Attendance: 16,695

Discipline  
56’ Portland – Castellanos (Yellow)
77’ Portland Bench – (Yellow)
90+8’ Kansas City – Robinson (Red) 
90+10’ Portland – Hiatt (Yellow)

Scoring  
1’ Kansas City – Wheeler (I. Rodriguez)
71’ Kansas City – Chawinga (Wheeler)

Scoring Summary

Portland Thorns Lineup: Arnold, Reyes (72’ Spaanstra), Obaze (81’ McKenzie), Hiatt, Perry, Coffey ©, Sugita, Fleming (58’ Alidou), Moultrie, Castellanos (81’ Dufour), Turner (72’ Tordin) 
Unused Substitutes: Bixby, Torpey, Powell, Daiane

Kansas City Current Lineup: Lorena, Wheeler, Mace, Sharples, I. Rodriguez, LaBonta ©, Hutton (79’ R. Rodríguez), Sentnor (61’ Debinha), Prince (61’ Cooper), Zaneratto (79’ Hopkins), Chawinga (90’ Robinson)
Unused Substitutes: Ivory, Steigleder, Long, Feist