Kansas City star Temwa Chawinga set the NWSL single-season record with her 19th goal, leading the Current to a 1-0 win over Bay FC on Saturday night in San Jose, California.

Chawinga surpassed Sam Kerr, who scored 18 points for the Chicago Red Stars in 2019.

Chawinga scored the decisive goal in the 35th minute when she had the ball just outside the penalty area and fired a laser shot with her right foot past Katelyn Rowland and into the left corner of the net.

“It means a lot to me because I work hard to score goals,” Chawinga said of the record in a post-match interview on ION. “The whole team, we have good players and they work so hard. I am very happy to be with them because they help me a lot. I’m happy to be (at Kansas City).”

Chawinga has a six-goal lead over Orlando’s Barbra Banda in the race for the Golden Boot. The 26-year-old is in her first season with Kansas City after playing in the Chinese Women’s Super League for the past four seasons.

Almuth Schult made two saves while recording her fifth shutout of the season for Current (14-3-7, 49 points). Kansas City moved to third place in the standings, one point behind NJ/NY Gotham FC.

Rowland made three saves for Bay FC (9-14-1, 28), which is in eighth place.

NJ/NY Gotham FC 2, Red Stars 0

Lynn Williams scored from the penalty spot in the 87th minute and Esther Gonzalez added a goal in stoppage time as NJ/NY Gotham FC defeated host Red Stars in Bridgeview, Illinois.

Gotham FC (15-4-5, 50 points) earned the penalty opportunity after Ella Stevens was knocked down from behind by Cari Rocarro of the Red Stars in the penalty area.

Ann-Katrin Berger saved once for Gotham FC, who secured a spot in the top four of the playoffs and a guaranteed home game in the postseason with the win. It was Berger’s eighth shutout, tying a franchise record.

Gotham FC, which had already qualified for a playoff spot, moved up to second place in the standings.

The loss denied the Red Stars (10-12-2, 32 points) a place in the playoffs, but if Racing Louisville FC loses to the Washington Spirit on Sunday, they can still earn their way into the Round of 16 of the postseason.

Angel City FC 1, Courage 1

Angel City’s Christen Press scored her first NWSL goal in 28 months in second-half stoppage time, but the North Carolina Courage’s Olivia Wingate answered three minutes later as the teams tied the game 1-1 Saturday night in Cary, North Carolina. played a draw

Press missed more than two years due to an ACL injury that required four surgeries. She injured her right knee in the second half on June 11, 2022 against Racing Louisville. She scored a goal in the 36th minute of that game.

On Saturday, the two-time World Cup champion United States fired a left-footed shot to the left of North Carolina goalkeeper Casey Murphy in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time to give Angel City a 1-0 lead.

But just moments later the Courage won a battle for the ball in midfield and Denise O’Sullivan played a sharp pass upfield to Wingate. Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haracic tried to block the angle, but Wingate easily fired a right-footed shot into the left corner of the net. It was Wingate’s second goal of the season.

The Courage (12-9-3, 39 points) are in fifth place. Angel City (7-12-5) sits in 10th place with 23 points after recently having three points deducted for a salary cap violation.

–Field level media