Seven storylines surrounding the KC Current as season opens Friday in Louisville

The Kansas City Current kick off their 2022 pro-soccer campaign Friday night in Kentucky sporting a bulked-up roster and designs on radical improvement under new head coach Matt Potter.

Here are seven things to watch as the club entering its second year of operation in KC opens the NWSL Challenge Cup on the road against Racing Louisville FC at 6:30 p.m. Friday evening.

Children’s Mercy Park

This is big, folks. All KC Current home matches this year will be played at one of the country’s top soccer-specific stadiums: Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas. The Current will move into their own state-of-the-art stadium in 2024 — it’s being built along the Kansas City riverfront near downtown.

New faces everywhere

The Current return just 11 players from last season’s squad that finished 3-14-7 in year one. A mix of college draft picks and new veteran acquisitions highlight a revamped roster blending youth and experience. Which leads us to our next point …

All these rookies

The Current have signed all of their draft picks, including 2021 selection Alex Loera, who chose to stay in school one more year. She gained valuable experience in doing so and won a national championship with Santa Clara. Loera and other rookies impressed during training camp and should see plenty of playing time — Potter won’t hesitate to play his newcomers, saying, “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.”

Veterans up the spine

The Current have sought to build up the spine of their team. This began last season with the acquisition of Salina, Kansas native and former Portland Thorns goalkeeper A.D. French and two strong center-backs. The next steps in the Current’s fortification efforts was midfield and striker. They added Sam Mewis, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, and one of the NWSL’s top all-time scorers in Lynn Williams.

‘Snacks’ with friends

Speaking of Mewis and Williams, the two are best of friends. They host a podcast together (“Snacks with Lynn & Sam” — they used it to announce Williams’ intent to join Mewis in Kansas City). As for their onfield rapport? It’s magic. Williams and Mewis played integral roles in the NC Courage’s run to multiple league championships and hope to do the same with the Current.

This team will press it

Potter, hired to succeed Huw Williams as head coach, has kept under wraps most of the tactics he aims to employ in KC. We’ll have to see what sort of formations he favors. But he’s likely going to press opponents hard to win the ball. He lists Jesse Marsch, Bob Bradley, Sporting KC’s Peter Vermes and Europe’s Mauricio Pochettino among his stylistic influences and is known to favor what he calls “hard-working” players. And hard-working squads and pressing usually go hand-in-hand.

They’ll win more games

The landscape of the NWSL changed a lot this offseason with the additions of Angel City FC in Los Angeles and the San Diego Wave. Their arrival spread out some of the league’s talent, particularly marquee talent. And with new general manager Camille Levin in place, the Current have continued to retool with winning in mind. It will be surprising if we don’t see massive improvement in this season’s results.

Here’s the 22-player roster with which the Current will open the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup:

Goalkeepers (2): Adrianna ‘”A.D.” Franch, Cassie Miller

Defenders (9): Elizabeth Ball, Kate Del Fava, Taylor Leach, Alex Loera, Hailie Mace, Maddie Nolf, Izzy Rodriguez, Mallory Weber, Jenna Winebrenner

Midfielders (7): Chardonnay Curran, Kristen Edmonds, Lo’eau LaBonta, Addie McCain, Sam Mewis, Victoria Pickett (INTL), Desiree Scott

Forwards (4): Elyse Bennett, Kristen Hamilton, Jaycie Johnson, Lynn Williams

This story was originally published March 15, 2022 at 2:05 PM with the headline "Seven storylines surrounding the KC Current as season opens Friday in Louisville."