Tessa Delarose scored her first professional goal in her first start and the Chicago Stars defeated the Kansas City Current 2-1 on Sunday. National Women’s Soccer League.
In Sunday’s only remaining game, San Diego defeated the Utah Royals 2-1.
Chicago’s win was the team’s first of the season after losing 4-0 to Angel City FC last weekend, and came in windy conditions at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium, the Stars’ new home.
DelaRose, who was on the University of North Carolina’s 2024 NCAA Championship team, scored the goal in the 42nd minute with a bicycle kick with his left foot off a corner kick from Sam Staab on a ball that Current had failed to clear from inside the box.
Current, last season’s NWSL Shield winners, had several more offensive chances than the Stars and had a shot on goal in the first minute of the game. The Stars spent most of their time on defense, but played more confidently and offensively in the second half.
In the 50th minute, Jordyn Huitema, who spent four seasons with Seattle before joining the Stars, scored Chicago’s second goal. He ran in and headed in a cross from Ryan Gareis.
Haley Hopkins came on as a substitute for Current in the second half and brought on Kansas City in the 57th minute. Penelope Hocking had a chance to equalize late in the game, but her shot went just wide of the target.
Rookie scores game-winning goal in San Diego’s first win of 2026
Leah Godfrey scored her first career goal in the 87th minute to defeat Utah in visiting San Diego.
Utah played the final 10 minutes of the game with no one down after Tatumn Milazzo was shown a second yellow card. The Royals set an NWSL record with 54 yellow cards in 2025, but only had three yellow cards.
Kenza Dali’s one-touch pass gave Godfrey enough space to take a touch and score past Utah goaltender Mia Justus.
The Wave led for much of the game with a goal by Maria Eduarda Rodriguez Silva in the 17th minute, taking advantage of Utah’s defensive lapses.
In the 67th minute, Lara Prasnikar made NWSL history as Utah tied the game, becoming the first Slovenian to score. However, the Royals never beat the Wave, falling to 0 wins and 2 losses on the season.
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