Temwa Chawinga named NWSL MVP, but KC Current snubbed for another notable award
.jpeg "Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chawinga smiles after scoring in a 2-0 win to clinch the NWSL Shield on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025.")
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- Temwa Chawinga won 2025 NWSL MVP, secured back-to-back honors and Golden Boot.
- Kansas City Current set NWSL regular-season records yet lost multiple major awards.
- Lorena won Goalkeeper of Year with 14 shutouts; five Current players made Best XI.
The 2025 Kansas City Current posted the best regular season the NWSL has ever seen. A mark like that usually comes with some postseason awards.
And it certainly did.
Temwa Chawinga was announced as the winner of the 2025 NWSL MVP Award on Wednesday evening during a first-ever NWSL Awards show, held on the site of the NWSL Championship in San Jose, California.
Chawinga, who won a second straight NWSL Golden Boot with 15 goals in 2025, was on hand to pick up the award a second straight time. She is the first to win the award back-to-back.
Chawinga joins Sam Kerr as the only other player to win the league’s highest individual honor more than once.
The KC Current’s star forward followed a 2024 campaign that saw her score 20 goals and dish five assists with 15 more goals and three assists. She was one of the game’s best attackers, and her defensive work also separated her from her peers.
Chawinga averaged nearly five defensive actions a game, putting in a complete shift on both sides of the ball.
More KC Current honors
Chawinga was also named to the NWSL Best XI for a second straight season. She was one of seven Current players who made the NWSL’s Best XI/Second XI teams.
Five Current players made the Best XI: Chawinga, Kayla Sharples, Izzy Rodriguez, Claire Hutton and Lorena. Two more players made the Second XI: Hailie Mace and Bia Zaneratto.
Lorena was named Goalkeeper of the Year after setting the league’s shutout record. She actually had more shutouts (14) than goals conceded (13). She led the league in save percentage.
Lorena beat out finalists Claudia Dickey of the Seattle Reign and Jordyn Bloomer of Racing Louisville.
Was Vlatko Andonovski snubbed?
The Current had multiple finalists up for every award except Rookie of the Year. Vlatko Andonovski was a finalist for coach of the year, but lost out to Beverly Yanez of Racing Louisville.
Racing Louisville had its best finish in club history, making the playoffs for the first time, and Yanez overcame personal adversity and difficulty. She suffered a miscarriage during the season.
On the field, however, no team in the NWSL — nor NWSL history, for that matter — matched what the Current accomplished.
Andonovski led the Current to the best record in NWSL history, the fewest goals allowed in NWSL history and a league-record shutout streak, all while finishing 28 points ahead of Louisville and 21 points clear of any other team in the league.
In addition, Sharples and Rodriguez were finalists for NWSL Defender of the Year for their roles on a record-setting back line. Neither of them won, as Tara McKeown of the Washington Spirit won the vote.
The Spirit ranked sixth in the NWSL in team defense this season, conceding 20 more goals than the Current.
Claire Hutton and Debinha were finalists for Midfielder of the Year, but the award went to Manaka Matsukubo of the North Carolina Courage.
Rounding out the award winners: Sam Hiatt of the Portland Thorns won the NWSL Ally Award, given to a player for off-field community work. And Lilly Reale of Gotham FC was named NWSL Rookie of the Year.
This story was originally published November 19, 2025 at 8:45 PM with the headline "Temwa Chawinga named NWSL MVP, but KC Current snubbed for another notable award."