Kansas City Current lose star forward for season just days before tourney home opener

Kansas City Current forward Lynn Williams will have surgery this week after suffering an injury to her right leg during the opening match of the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup on March 18.

Williams, who joined the Current in a trade last January, will miss the remainder of the 2022 season while she recovers, according to a news release issued by the Current on Tuesday morning.

In the news release, the Current described the injury as “an acute right leg injury.” U.S. Women’s National Team coach Vlatko Andonovski, the former coach of the now-defunct FC Kansas City club, later described the injury as a hamstring injury.

Williams was apparently hurt during the Current’s game earlier this month in Kentucky against Racing Louisville FC. She did not play in last weekend’s game against the Red Stars in Chicago, a match that the Current still won 2-1.

The disclosure about Williams’ injury and need for surgery comes the same day that the Red Stars announced defender Tierna Davidson — like Williams, a potential starter for the USWNT — tore knee ligaments during training. She, too, will miss the remainder of the season.

“I had a chance to talk to them right after the injury,” Andonovski said Tuesday, per reporter Meredith Cash of Business Insider. “They’re both great players. We’re gonna miss them.”

The USWNT is scheduled to open play in the important CONCACAF W Championship — a World Cup-qualifier tournament — in July. Both women will miss that competition.

The Current, meanwhile, are scheduled to play their NWSL Challenge Cup opener on Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan., after playing a midweek Challenge Cup game in Houston Wednesday night against the Dash.

This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 9:54 AM with the headline "Kansas City Current lose star forward for season just days before tourney home opener."