Malawian female footballer Temwa Chawinga continues to write her own piece of history as she has become the first ever female player to score 19 goals in a single season in the National Women’s Super League (NWSL) in the United States (US).
She achieved the feat on Sunday.
To scale that height, she scored the goal as her club, Kansas Current City, defeated Bay Football Club 1-0 at PayPal Park.
This means the Malawian has surpassed Sam Kerr’s 2019 record of 18 goals.
“The goal placed Chawinga alone atop the NWSL record book for regular season scoring and marked the lone goal of the contest as Kansas City capped its first ever visit to the Bay Area with a victory,” the club’s website reported.
Temwa has also increased her chances of winning the NWSL Golden Boot award in her debut season.
She is six goals above her closest challenger Zambian Barbara Banda of Orlando Pride.
In a match monitored on Kansas’ website, Temwa scored in the 35th minute of the match.
“Chawinga gave Current the lead for good with a moment of brilliance, intercepting a throw-in in the attacking third and taking two touches forward, then despite being pulled by her jersey she fired a shot from outside [the] Bay FC penalty box that a diving Rowland could not keep out of the back of her net,” the website stated.
Temwa has scored 19 out of the team’s 50 goals this season.
This means Kansas are just the fourth team in NWSL to reach 50 goals in a single season.
Kansas are just four goals from equaling Carolina Courage’s league record of 54 goals in 2019.
Temwa said she was delighted with her feat.
“We keep moving forward. It feels great to score for the club and break records,” she said.
The 26-year-old striker has, for the past three seasons, set new records for both clubs and country in all competitions.
Last year, Temwa was the overall top goal scorer in the world, having netted 63 goals for country and club.
She won three golden boot awards while playing for Wuhan Jianghan in China last year.
Her elder sister Tabitha Chawinga, who plays for Olympique Lyonnais in France, hailed Temwa.
“Congratulations my dear sister Temwa for the feat you have achieved. As we always say, the sky is not the limit but it is home. Keep the goals coming,” Tabitha said.
On his part, Football Association of Malawi (Fam) President Fleetwood Haiya also hailed Temwa for her exploits in the US.
“This is a historic achievement not only for Temwa but for Malawi as a nation. She continues to make us proud on the global stage, showcasing the immense talent that our nation has to offer,” Haiya said.
Temwa is expected to be part of the Scorchers squad for the 2024 Cosafa Women’s Championship in South Africa next week.
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