The Kansas Metropolis Present clinched the 2025 NWSL Protect at residence on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Reign FC at CPKC Stadium.
Kansas Metropolis ahead Debinha opened the scoring from the penalty spot within the first half.
Temwa Chawinga scored within the second half for her thirteenth purpose of the season, which is tied for the league lead.
Kansas Metropolis clinched the NWSL Protect faster than any group in NWSL historical past by proportion of video games performed, with 21 of 26 video games accomplished.
“It’s a massive trophy,” Present coach Vlatko Andonoski mentioned. “Profitable the season, successful it with [a] assertion shouldn’t be like — clearly any win is a win, it is vital, it is good. However I assumed that we gained with a press release. We confirmed that, all through the season, we have been the most effective group within the league.”
The 2014 Seattle Reign and 2018 North Carolina Braveness every clinched the Protect of their twentieth sport of 24-game seasons.
That 2014 Seattle group misplaced within the ultimate of the playoffs that 12 months, whereas the 2018 Braveness gained the NWSL Championship.
Kansas Metropolis is now 16 factors forward of the second-place Washington Spirit with 5 video games left to play within the common season.
The Present would be the No. 1 seed within the playoffs and can host the No. 8 seed in November’s quarterfinal. Saturday’s shutout victory was Kansas Metropolis’s ninth straight sport with out conceding a purpose, which extends a league file.
The Present haven’t conceded a purpose in 812 minutes and haven’t misplaced since Could 2. Kansas Metropolis is approaching additional historic dominance this NWSL season.
The Present at the moment are one victory away from tying the single-season league file of 18 wins in a season, which was set final 12 months by each the Orlando Satisfaction and the Washington Spirit.
Kansas Metropolis is now inside seven factors of tying Orlando’s record-setting 60-point season from 2024.
Solely three of the 11 earlier NWSL Protect winners have additionally gained the NWSL Championship. Orlando gained each trophies final 12 months.
The NWSL Protect is the Kansas Metropolis Present’s first in historical past.
It’s also the primary NWSL Protect for Andonovski, who’s one in all two coaches in league historical past with 100 or extra victories. Seattle Reign head coach Laura Harvey is the opposite coach with 100-plus victories.
Andonovski gained a pair of NWSL Championships as the top coach of FC Kansas Metropolis, the town’s earlier group that technically folded in late 2017 however whose historical past of relocations finally led the delivery of the Present.
Harvey was additionally Seattle’s coach for its historic 2014 season. Andonovski, whose group beat Harvey’s in each the 2014 and 2015 finals, mentioned that he joked with Harvey earlier than Saturday’s sport that she gained a few NWSL Shields, so she might let him win one.
However on Saturday, Andonovski wouldn’t ponder whether or not his 2025 Present group is the most effective in league historical past — or if it must win the championship to verify that.
“Truthfully, I do not wish to even assume if we’re anyplace shut or higher or worse than that group. I simply wish to be the most effective that we may be and proceed to develop as a group. And if which means successful a championship, I might be more than pleased to do it.”
