KC Current set offseason NWSL roster: club will roll with these players at new stadium
The Kansas City Current have an important offseason at hand as they build the NWSL roster, and momentum, they’ll carry onto the field at CPKC Stadium — their brand-new soccer-specific facility in — in March.
Their first steps toward assembling that roster were taken Monday evening when the club unveiled its end-of-season roster.
The Current exercised the option of Claire Lavogez, who made her return from a torn ACL late in the season. Izzy Rodriguez, who was out of contract, has received a new offer from the club. She does not qualify for free agency.
Chardonnay Curran, Rylan Childers, Croix Soto and Jenna Winebrenner are all out of contract with the Current, and the club waived its rights to those players.
In addition, Sam Mewis, Desiree Scott, and Mallory Weber are unrestricted free agents. Addisyn Merrick and Cassie Miller are restricted free agents, meaning the Current have the right to match any offer made to those players by another National Women’s Soccer League team.
The KC Current’s NWSL roster
That brings the Current’s roster to 20 players under contract:
Goalkeeper: AD Franch, Jordan Silkowitz
Defender: Lauren, Elizabeth Ball, Stine Balisager, Kate Del Fava, Hanna Glas, Hailie Mace, Gabrielle Robinson
Midfielder: Debinha, Vanessa DiBernardo, Morgan Gautrat, Cece Kizer, Lo’eau LaBonta, Claire Lavogez
Forward: Michelle Cooper, Kristen Hamilton, Mimmi Larsson, Alex Pfieffer, Alexa Spaanstra,
The Current started their offseason last Wednesday by trading away Alex Loera to NWSL Expansion team Bay FC, based in the Bay Area, in exchange for $175k in allocation money and protection in the upcoming NWSL Expansion Draft. The Current could still have a player selected by Utah Royals unless they work out a trade negating for protection there as well
Areas of need for KC Current
While this is certainly subject to change in the several weeks before this year’s expansion draft, the Current harbor an obvious area of need.
And they created it for themselves by trading away Alex Loera.
The defensive side of the midfield is dangerously thin at the moment. The Current will no doubt aim to boster that aspect of their roster through free agency this offseason.
Gautrat is the lone player on the KC roster who seems suited for a true defensive midfield role. LaBonta and DiBernardo can hold their own there occasionally but are too attack-minded to provide the requisite defensive cover.
While they traded away Loera, their decision to also waive the rights to Winebrenner leaves the Current needing at least two players to fill that position.