NWSL Golden Boot winner Temwa Chawinga scored the Kansas City Current‘s lone goal in a 1-0 quarterfinal victory over the North Carolina Courage on Saturday at CPKC Stadium.
Chawinga also hit the ground and stayed there several times in the match, something that drew criticism from Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski after the victory.
“It wasn’t just this game. If you look at the season, every game they’re overly physical against her,” Andonovski said. “It’s not fair for Temwa. They’re targeting her. They’re going directly at her. And I just hope that as we go forward, she gets more protection from the referees.”
Chawinga was on her back deep into second-half stoppage time after a tackle by Courage reserve Bianca St-Georges, who then stood over Chawinga with her hands in the air and appeared to yell something at the Current forward.
Kansas City defender Ellie Wheeler rushed over and shoved St-Georges in the back, resulting in yellow cards for Wheeler and St-Georges.
“I think [Chawinga] has a lot of attention on her,” Current midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo said. “And just, I think when we see that happen over and over again, and her not get the calls that she should be getting, it gets frustrating, and you want to protect her and stand up for her.
“She does so…
