Trio Named to NWSL Best XI of the Month, Presented by Amazon Prime, for August

A trio of Kansas City Current players have been named to the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Best XI of the Month, presented by Amazon Prime, for August. The league announced on Friday that forward Temwa Chawinga along with defenders Izzy Rodriguez and Kayla Sharples received the recognition for their impressive performances last month.  

Kansas City’s three Best XI recipients are the most of any team this month, as has been the case every month this season. The Current has garnered a league-leading 16 Best XI selections between March, April, May, June and August. No other club in NWSL history has had more players recognized on the Best XI team in the first five months of the season.  

Collecting NWSL Best XI praise for the fourth time this year is Chawinga, who was also tabbed to the team in March, May and June. This is the ninth such honor of her career which is now tied for third all-time. Both Rodriguez and Sharples landed on the Best XI for the third time in their careers and second time this season, with Rodriguez also being recognized in May and Sharples most recently in June.   

Additionally, head coach and sporting director Vlatko Andonovski was chosen as the NWSL Coach of the Month, having now received the recognition in two of the three months it has been awarded. Andonovski led the Current – who has maintained their spot atop the NWSL standings for 14 consecutive weeks – to a 4-0-1 record during the August slate, extending the club’s unbeaten streak to 11 regular season matches. 

Chawinga found the back of the net three times in August, two which were game-winning goals. Her six game-winning goals this year lead the league and match her own NWSL regular season record. The forward made history on Aug. 8 by scoring her 30th regular season career goal in what was only her 40th regular season appearance, making her by far the fastest player in NWSL history to reach 30. Chawinga, who was nominated for the prestigious Ballon d’Or on Aug. 7, currently sits in second in a tight Golden Boot race with 11 goals and two assists. 

Last month, Rodriguez totaled three goal contributions across five matches behind two assists and a goal. Not only did her game-winning assist on Aug. 23 mark her fifth of the year which leads the league, but it also equaled the club record of 10 regular season assists. Her goal the following week was her first of the season and fifth of her career, which also happened to be the game-winning goal that clinched Kansas City’s spot in the 2025 NWSL Playoffs, presented by Google Pixel. On the defensive end, Rodriguez was instrumental in the club not conceding a goal in August.  

Also anchoring Kansas City’s stalwart back line last month was Sharples, one of 10 players across the league with ironwoman status for playing all 1,620 minutes so far this regular season. Sharples has proven critical in the club-record 11 clean sheets this year, including five in August as the Current set a new NWSL record for consecutive regular season shutouts with six on Aug. 30. Her first career assist was for the match-winning goal on Aug. 8, and she is one of six defenders in the league with multiple regular season goals and at least one assist.   

The Kansas City Current is back in action on Saturday, Sept. 6, against Bay FC. Kickoff is at 9 p.m. CT (7 p.m. PT) at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., the site of the 2025 NWSL Championship, presented by Google Pixel. The match will broadcast on ION and fans in Kansas City can catch a simulcast of the game on KMCI, 38 the Spot with a pregame show, KC Current Matchday, starting at 8:30 p.m. CT. Fans can also watch the game on 90.9 The Bridge in addition to tuning in to hear the match in English, Spanish or Portuguese on the KC Current App.