Washington Spirit run riot in 4-0 rout of Kansas City Current: Match report

The Washington Spirit have said they knew they were close to a breakout performance, and Saturday night they proved their point.

The Spirit dismantled the Kansas City Current 4-0 at a sold-out Audi Field, with Leicy Santos leading the way with a brace. Trinity Rodman posted a goal and an assist in the first half, while Claudia Martínez came off the bench to score her first NWSL goal to cap off the rout.

A transitional sequence saw Croix Bethune nearly punish her old team in the 13th minute, as Hal Hershfelt's backpass went between its targets. Bethune waltzed in alone on goal, but Sandy MacIver made a critical save. At the other end, a superb dummy from Sofia Cantore opened space for Rosemonde Kouassi, but the winger's strike zipped wide.

The Current had arguably had the better of the early exchanges, but Washington would take a 1-0 lead after 25 minutes. Kate Wiesner dipped inside before slipping Trinity Rodman — who celebrated her 100th appearance for the club in a ceremony just before kickoff — into space along the left.

The U.S. women's national team forward's low cross was true, picking out Santos. The Colombia midfielder had missed a very similar chance against Bay FC in the Spirit's last match, but made no mistake this time in bagging her second goal of the campaign.

The Spirit nearly bagged a quick second as Kouassi charged after a ball in behind, only for Current goalkeeper Lorena to react extremely well to clear the ball in the nick of time.

Temwa Chawinga showed her close control in the 41st minute, slashing across the Spirit back line and into a dangerous spot. Eventually she gave way to Debinha for what seemed like a golden opportunity, but MacIver came up with another immense stop, leaving her right foot out for a kick-save to maintain Washington's lead.

That lead really should have expanded just before halftime, as Lorena dropped what should have been a clean grab on a Kouassi cross. Falling back, Sofia Cantore's chance was more difficult than it might have looked, but her lob floating over the crossbar still made for a frustrating miss.

The Spirit shook it off, with another Lorena drop becoming a goal for Rodman in first-half stoppage time. Wiesner's corner to the back post seemed like it would make for an easy claim, but under mild pressure Lorena spilled the ball at Rodman's feet. From there, the 23-year-old reacted quickly and calmly, steering the loose ball into an empty net.

Washington kept its foot on the gas in the 56th minute, extending the lead to 3-0. Hershfelt's vision created the chance, with the midfielder feeding Cantore's run away from Gabby Robinson. Cantore's cross didn't quite find a target, but Santos was on hand to notch a brace as her shot had just enough power to carry over the line despite Lorena getting a touch.

The Current briefly thought they'd put something on the board as Michelle Cooper's low ball to the back post picked out Ally Sentnor for a tap-in. However, Sentnor had clearly run a yard or so offside, compounding KC's frustrations on the night.

If there was any doubt over what the result would be, Claudia Martínez put it to rest in the 75th minute with her first NWSL goal. Kouassi was the architect, bursting into space along the right before firing the teenager. While Martínez's first effort was blocked by Kayla Sharples, she made no mistake on the second, guiding a left-footed shot past Lorena to make it 4-0.

Martínez nearly tacked on a fifth as another substitute, Tamara Bolt, raced after a wonderful, line-breaking pass from Santos, only for Lorena to do just enough to keep the ball from getting over the line.

The Current again came inches from avoiding a shutout, with Sentnor's long-range free kick smacking off the crossbar, while Tara Rudd made a highlight-reel tackle to deny Haley Hopkins and preserve the shutout. On a stellar night for the Spirit, nothing was going to dampen the mood.

The Spirit (2-3-1) will hope to keep rolling Wednesday night, when they host Racing Louisville at Audi Field, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

Box score — NWSL regular season (game 6)
4/24/2026

Washington Spirit 4 (Santos 25, 56; Rodman 48+; Martínez 75)
Kansas City Current 0

Lineups:
Spirit (433): Sandy MacIver; Lucia Di Guglielmo (Élisabeth Tsé 78), Esme Morgan, Tara Rudd (C), Kate Wiesner; Hal Hershfelt, Rebeca Bernal, Leicy Santos; Rosemonde Kouassi (Tamara Bolt 83), Sofia Cantore (Claudia Martínez 65), Trinity Rodman (Gift Monday 78)

Current (433): Lorena; Ellie Bravo-Young, Kayla Sharples, Gabby Robinson, Izzy Rodriguez; Debinha (Rocky Rodríguez 46), Lo'eau LaBonta (C) (Bayley Feist 82), Croix Bethune (Amelia White 75); Michelle Cooper (Kyra Carusa 75), Ally Sentnor, Temwa Chawinga (Haley Hopkins 65)

Bookings:
Spirit - None
Current - Sharples 13, Cooper 42

Referee: Nabil Bensalah
Weather: Cloudy, humid, 72°
Attendance: 19,215