Chawinga, Sharples Honored on September's NWSL Best XI of the Month, Presented by Amazon Prime
NWSL Kansas City Current

Chawinga, Sharples Honored on September's NWSL Best XI of the Month, Presented by Amazon Prime

Published on October 3, 2025 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Kansas City Current News Release


KANSAS CITY - A pair of Kansas City Current players have been tabbed to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Best XI of the Month, presented by Amazon Prime, for September. The league announced on Friday that forward Temwa Chawinga and defender Kayla Sharples earned the recognition for their impressive performances last month.

The Current has garnered a league-leading 18 Best XI selections between March, April, May, June, August and September, tied for the most by a club in the first six months of the season in NWSL history.

Collecting NWSL Best XI praise for the fifth time this year - and for the fourth consecutive month - is Chawinga, who was also named to the team in March, May, June and August. This is the 10th such honor of her career, which is tied for second most all-time. Sharples landed on the Best XI for the fourth time in her career and the third straight time this season, having also earned the praise in June and August.

Additionally, head coach Vlatko Andonovski was selected as the NWSL Coach of the Month. He has now received the recognition in three of the four months it has been awarded. Andonovski led the Current - who has maintained their spot atop the NWSL standings for 18 consecutive weeks - to a 3-0-1 record during the September slate, extending the club's unbeaten streak to 15 regular season matches while clinching the first NWSL Shield in franchise history.

Chawinga totaled three goals and an assist in her three appearances in September to extend her lead in the Golden Boot race to 14 goals with a trio of assists. She scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time to seal a 2-0 win at Bay FC on Sept. 6 before her first career header on Sept. 20 vs. Seattle Reign FC helped Kansas City win the 2025 NWSL Shield, presented by CarMax. The forward also tallied a goal and the game-winning assist on Sept. 26 during a 4-1 rout of Chicago Stars FC. Chawinga finished No. 17 in the final standings of the prestigious Ballon d'Or rankings, revealed on Sept. 22.

Anchoring a stalwart back line last month was Sharples, who helped guide Kansas City to new NWSL records with 869 consecutive shutout minutes and nine straight clean sheets in addition to equaling the league mark for most team shutouts in a single season with 14. The center back ranks in the league's top 10 with 15 blocks, 99 clearances and 43 headed clearances - all which lead the roster. Sharples rewrote the Current history book on Sept. 20 with her franchise-record 29th consecutive regular season start. She is also one of eight defenders in the league with multiple regular season goals and at least one assist this year.

The Kansas City Current returns to action on the West Coast for a match against Angel City FC on Monday, Oct. 6. Kickoff is set for 9:30 p.m. CT (7:30 p.m. PT) at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. The match will broadcast on CBS Sports Network as well as on the World Feed. Fans in Kansas City can watch the game locally on KMCI, 38 the Spot with a pregame show, KC Current Matchday, starting at 9 p.m. CT. Fans can also catch 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.

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