Michelle Cooper scored in the 59th minute and Lorena made three saves for her record-tying 13th clean sheet as the Kansas City Current put a big dent in Angel City FC’s playoff hopes with a 1-0 victory on Monday night in Los Angeles.
The win extended Kansas City’s unbeaten streak to 16 games (14-0-2). The Current (19-2-2, 59 points), who had already clinched first place and the NWSL Shield, also set league records for wins (19) and road victories (10) in a season.
Lorena matched the NWSL shutout record set by Orlando’s Anna Moorhouse in 2024 with her 13th shutout in 21 starts.
The loss kept Angel City (6-11-6, 24 points) seven points behind the eighth-place San Diego Wave (8-8-7, 31 points) for the final playoff spot with three matches and a possible nine points remaining.
Kansas City, which played without reigning NWSL MVP and Golden Boot leader Temwa Chawinga, who was sidelined with a knee injury, didn’t attempt a shot until the 59th minute when a sliding Cooper redirected Haley Hopkins’ crossing pass into the middle of the box with her right leg into the right corner of the net for her sixth goal.
Angel City, which had a Jun Endo shot hit the outside of the right post in the 49th minute, almost tied it in the 71st minute on a Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir left-footed shot from the left side of the box, but a diving Lorena deflected it wide of the bottom right corner with her left-hand.
–Field Level Media
