Washington Spirit Ready to Host Kansas City Current in Battle of Last Season's Top Two Teams
NWSL Washington Spirit

Washington Spirit Ready to Host Kansas City Current in Battle of Last Season's Top Two Teams

Published on April 23, 2026 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Washington Spirit News Release


Washington, D.C. - The Washington Spirit will return to action Friday night when the side hosts the Kansas City Current at Audi Field in a highly anticipated matchup. The clubs finished as the top two teams on the table in 2025 and haven't met since a scoreless draw over seven months ago. Limited tickets are still available at WashingtonSpirit.com/tickets. Kicking off at 8 p.m. EDT, the match will air nationally on Amazon Prime for Spirit fans unable to attend.

On the Pitch

Friday will be the first meeting between Washington and Kansas City since last September's 0-0 stalemate in Missouri when the sides sat first and second on the league table. The match was the Spirit's first-ever shutout of the Current and helped goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury become the first player in league history to record a clean sheet against all 14 active NWSL clubs.

The Spirit carries a 5-4-1 series advantage into this weekend's matchup but hasn't earned a win over Kansas City since August 2024 when it took a decisive 4-1 victory at Audi Field. In the Current's last visit to DC, the side topped Washington 2-0 in the Spirit's 2025 home opener.

Prior to the recent international window, Washington collected its first win of the season with a convincing 2-0 decision on the road against Bay FC. With the win, the Spirit vaulted above the playoff line and remained unbeaten in its last four matches. Kansas City is tied with the Spirit on points but sits in 11th place due to goal differential. The Current also won its most recent match, ending a three-match losing streak heading into the break.

Returning to the Spirit this week after international duty were nine Spirit players including star forward Trinity Rodman, midfielder Leicy Santos and defender Esme Morgan. With her native England, Morgan led her side to an impressive shutout win over defending World Cup champion Spain in London while Rodman continued to perform well with the U.S. Women's National Team, providing the opening assist in the team's win over Japan in San Jose. The 'Spirit Worldwide' will all play together again this weekend for the first time in nearly three weeks as the NWSL returns to regular season play.

The Spirit leads the league in rate of possession at over 60% and sits top three in both shots and shots on target through five matches. Despite creating a plethora of scoring chances each match, the side has been held to just five goals so far this season. After breaking through for its first win of 2026 earlier this month with a two-goal margin of victory, look for the Washington attacking third to continue getting chances on frame as it looks to continue its strong scoring output from the past two seasons.

The Washington defending third has been in strong form as of late, coming off two straight clean sheets on the road in Denver and San Jose. Goalkeeper Sandy MacIver, in her first year as the club's starter, has tallied her first two shutouts as well, maintaining a 0.8 goals against average (GAA) on the season.

Kansas City enters this weekend's highly anticipated matchup after a difficult five-match start to the season. The side won its opener at home before losing three straight on the road through the end of March and equaling its total number of losses from a year ago when it won the NWSL Shield. The Current got back on the right track earlier this month with a comeback home win over defending champion Gotham FC for its second win of the year.

Across the side's last eight regular season matches, the Current is a perfect 4-0-0 at home and without a point at 0-4-0 on the road. Looking for its first away win of the year, Kansas City will look to the foot of recently returned striker Temwa Chawinga. Chawinga has scored in three straight matches against the Spirit, as she has done against six other NWSL clubs since entering the league two years ago.

In the defending third, Kansas City has allowed nine goals through five matches, third-most in the league so far in 2026. The side has also gone eight matches without a clean sheet just a year removed from setting a new league record with 16 shutouts in a single season. Washington has struggled to score against the Current as of late, however, being held scoreless in three straight matches after putting up nine goals in the three matches before that.

Friday's match will be a pivotal one for both the Spirit and Current as both sides look to continue to move up the table coming off wins before the international break. Fans can expect another rowdy environment this weekend at Audi Field with two popular preseason championship favorites facing off for the first time this season.

Around the Stadium

As fans enter Audi Field for Friday's Throwback Night, they'll once again be able to enjoy music from local DMV pop rock band Crashed Chords on the Spirit Stage. Crashed Chords has quickly become a staple at Audi Field, having performed at several Spirit matches throughout the team's 2025 run back to the NWSL Championship and at March 25's match against Utah this season. Tunes from 2016 will bump throughout the stadium as well as the Spirit celebrates its second annual Throwback match.

After their first Audi Field appearance at the season opener, the Spirit Crew Entertainment Team will be back again this weekend to continue entertaining fans from the time gates open until the stadium lights turn off. Assembled this offseason, the Spirit Crew is the first ever co-ed NWSL entertainment team. They will take the field at halftime for their second Audi Field performance of the year as fans gear up for the second half.

Spiritville will continue to feature activations that fans will be sure to love on Friday night. In addition to the return of soccer bowling and fan-favorites like the temporary tattoo station, poster-making station and yard games, Spiritville will feature even more photo areas for fans to immortalize their visits to Audi Field including the all-new metro set. Celebrate Throwback Night with an all-new graphic timeline of the Spirit's club history in Spiritville as well.

The concourse will also feature several new concessions options that debuted at the season opener. Around the southeast corner of the stadium will be food truck row with four unique food truck options to provide even more variety on matchday. In addition to a new pizza stand at the stadium, the north concourse will be home to a new vegan vending machine for inclusive options.

Before kickoff, Audi Field will experience another custom light show thanks to the Spirit's new fan-first tech. Fans will be able to turn their phones into part of the show themselves by scanning a QR code available in-stadium and join the fun. The code will take you to a web page that will ask to enable permissions to your phone flashlight. Once you click accept you're in the show! Make sure to keep the tab open until it's time for the show to begin. Once closer, you'll notice the screen will change. The light show will begin before procession to welcome your favorite Spirit players out of the tunnel in style.

Following the light show, the Spirit will recognize Trinity Rodman for becoming the youngest player in league history to appear in 100 NWSL regular season matches. At just 23 years old, Rodman reached the milestone in Washington's most recent home match and will be presented with a framed Spirit jersey with her name and the number 100 on the back at midfield before kickoff. The star forward has played the sixth-most regular season matches in club history.

The national anthem will be performed by Eric Neuenschwander tomorrow night, with ASL interpretation by Liza Offreda. DC's Metropolitan Police Department color guard will present the flags alongside them. Friday night's honorary captain will be Kevin Keane, CEO of club partner American Beverage Association.

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National Women's Soccer League Stories from April 23, 2026


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