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KC Current adds to roster

The Kansas City Current has made several changes recently, adding players to the roster for next season.

The Current also has made changes for players on the roster, placing defenders Katie Bowen and Michelle Maemone on waivers and buying out the contract of forward Mariana Larroquette, according to an announcement.

The Current made two picks in the fourth round of the NWSL draft, selecting Texas Christian University defender Jenna Winebrenner and drafting Ohio State University defender Izzy Rodriguez.

Winebrenner grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, playing for Park Hill High School. She played four college years at Notre Dame, where she started 53 of her 55 matches on the defensive backline. Winebrenner transferred to Texas Christian University for her senior season, starting in 22 matches for the Horned Frogs.

Rodriguez played college soccer for the Ohio State Buckeyes. She earned Big Ten All-Freshman in 2017, First Team All-Big Ten in 2018 and 2021, and the Big Ten Defender of the Year in 2021. From the backline, Rodriguez scored eight goals and added 12 assists at Ohio State.

The Current also selected Washington State forward Elyse Bennett in the first round and University of Oregon midfielder Chardonnay Curran in the second round.

Bennett was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team in her first season with the Cougars. She scored three goals in 14 games her sophomore season before suffering an injury. Bennett returned from the injury to start in 56 of her next 57 matches.

The forward scored 26 goals in her college career, with 12 assists. Her 10 scores in 2021 led the team and propelled her to being named First Team All Pac-12 to close out her final collegiate season.

Curran holds the Oregon record for most appearances, 92, and starts, 84. She is a versatile midfielder who accounted for 21 points at Oregon. She had three goals in 19 matches her senior year and finished her college career with seven goals and seven assists.

A recent trade sent midfielder Gaby Vincent to the Washington Spirit in exchange for the Spirit’s natural fourth round pick in the 2023 NWSL draft and $25,000 in allocation funds.

Vincent was transferred to Kansas City with 22 other players before the 2021 season. She appeared in 16 games for Kansas City, making 11 starts. The midfielder was signed by the Utah Royals in 2019 and started seven games that season.

Bowen was one of seven players who returned to Kansas City this season after having played with FC Kansas City and then the Utah Royals. Originally drafted out of the University of North Carolina by FCKC in 2016, the New Zealand native has played in 89 career NWSL games with 71 starts.

Maemone, originally drafted by the Utah Royals in 2019, was one of 22 players assigned to the Kansas City Roster shortly after the team was announced. Maemone was in the Starting XI for Kansas City’s first Challenge Cup match in Portland on April 9 and appeared in nine matches for the team during the 2021 Challenge Cup and Regular Season.

Larroquette was Kansas City’s first international signing on Dec. 22, 2020. The Argentine national played 19 games this season, starting in eight.

The 2022 preseason begins Feb. 1, and the season will open with the Challenge Cup on March 19.

Current acquires Mewis in trade

The Kansas City Current has acquired U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Samantha “Sam” Mewis in a trade with the North Carolina Courage.

In exchange, North Carolina will receive defender Kiki Pickett and the Current’s natural first round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft.

In a separate transaction related to this trade, the Courage will obtain the discovery rights of Malia Berkely from the Current in exchange for the Courage’s natural first round pick in the draft.

“Sam Mewis has proven herself as one of the best soccer players in the world,” co-owner Angie Long said. “It’s not a coincidence that everywhere she’s played throughout her career, titles have followed. She’s a leader on and off the field and we are thrilled to have her join the Current as a key contributor to help bring NWSL Championships to Kansas City.”

With a World Cup Championship, three NWSL titles, a NCAA Championship and a FA Cup Championship, along with numerous individual accolades, Mewis joins the Current as one of the most decorated players in women’s soccer, both domestically and internationally.

“I’m really excited to start this new chapter with Kansas City,” Mewis said. “I know how much the city has embraced our sport and I can’t wait to meet the fans. I’m honored to be part of what this group is doing and I’m really looking forward to getting started with my new teammates. I have a lot of confidence in this team already and can’t wait to get to work. Go Current.”

At UCLA, Mewis scored 31 goals in 87 NCAA appearances. She was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team in 2011, helped the Bruins to the 2013 NCAA National Championship and capped off her collegiate career by earning the 2015 Honda Sports Award, given annually to the best female collegiate soccer player.

A member of the U.S. Youth National Teams at the 2008 U-17 World Cup, the 2010 U-20 World Cup and the 2012 U-20 World Cup, she made her senior team debut at the age of 21 against Sweden in the 2014 Algarve Cup.

After traveling to Rio as an alternate for the 2016 Olympics, Mewis played in every match for the U.S. in 2017 and was a member of the 2019 FIFA World Cup Champion team in France. Mewis appeared in eight of the nine U.S. games in 2020 and was named the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year.

Selected fourth overall in the 2015 NWSL Draft, Mewis made an immediate impact for the Western New York Flash. She started every game that season and was named a finalist for the 2015 Rookie of the Year award. In 2016, Mewis scored two playoff goals and helped the Flash win the 2016 NWSL Championship.

With the Flash and Courage, Mewis won three NWSL Championships (2016, 2018, 2019) and appeared in four straight title matches. She was named to the NWSL Best XI and was a NWSL MVP Finalist in 2017. Mewis has 21 career goals in 92 regular season appearances, plus another four goals in eight playoff appearances.

Following the 2020 NWSL Fall Series, Mewis signed to play in England with Manchester City. Making 29 appearances for City, she scored 14 goals and was named to PFA Team of the Year. Mewis added another title to her resumé during her time overseas. She scored a goal in each of the semi-finals and finals as she helped her side to the 2020 FA Cup Championship.

Kiki Pickett joins the Courage after being selected with the first pick for Kansas City in the 2020 NWSL Draft. After finishing her senior season at Stanford, Pickett joined Kansas City in June and made her professional debut against the Washington Spirit on June 26. She played in 16 games for KC, starting in 13. She tied for second on the team in tackles (36), possession won (119) and crosses blocked (4). Collegiately, Pickett was a two-time NCAA Champion with Stanford (2017, 2019) and was named the 2020 Pac-12 Defender of the Year.

KC NWSL reveal new team name, wrap up season with 3-0 loss

After the team’s 3-0 loss to the OL Reign, team captain Rachel Corsie kept warm with her new Kansas City Current scarf. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

Kansas City’s NWSL team dropped the final game of their inaugural season 3-0 to Portland’s OL Reign, but the game seemed like merely an afterthought to the hype surrounding the announcement of the team’s new name, the Kansas City Current.

A halftime light show set the stage for the announcment, revealed simultaneously on the Legends Field video board, on signs around the field, and on the team’s website and social media.

The Current players took the field in the second half wearing the team’s new crest: a vertical KC, crossed by a sweeping river shape, and adorned by two stars representing championships won by Kansas City FC.

Back to the game, the Current had trouble fighting out of their own end during the first half hour, ceding repeated corner kicks to the Reign. Kansas City’s defense didn’t give up a goal in that stretch, but lost captain Rachel Corsie to an injury in the 23rd minute.

Kansas City’s best opportunity came in the 34th minute, when Lo’eau LaBonta unleashed a shot from just outside the penalty area that passed inches outside the goalpost.

In the 35th minute, the pressure got to Kansas City, which conceded an own goal, a redirection on a Reign shot from distance.

No longer able to play for a tie, Kansas City pushed higher on their offense with five minutes remaining in the half. The change in tactics created sustained pressure, but no goals, and the halftime score was 1-0.

OL Reign didn’t take long to double its lead in the second half. In the 48th minute, Megan Rapinoe sent a corner kick that bounced to the back post where it was knocked in by Eugenie Le Sommer.

The Rapinoe-Le Sommer connection worked again in the 64th minute, this time with a cross into the box that Le Sommer headed home for a 3-0 advantage.

With a sizeable advantage in the late stages of the game, the Reign used all five available substitutions to protect key players as they tune up for the coming NWSL playoffs.

The loss snapped Kansas City’s streak of seven home games without a loss, and the expansion squad’s final record stands at 3 wins, 7 draws, and 14 losses.

The Current has announced the team will play the 2022 season at Children’s Mercy Park. The team’s ambitious plans include a training facility to be built in Riverside, Missouri, and a dedicated $70 million, 11,000 seat stadium to be built on the riverfront in Kansas City, Missouri, in time for the 2024 season.