Holiday-shopping KC Current add experienced duo via NWSL trade, free-agent signing
The Kansas City Current women’s pro soccer team is welcoming some new faces for 2025 while also parting ways with a couple of familiar ones.
The Current announced a trade Friday afternoon, acquiring midfielder Raquel “Rocky” Rodriguez from Angel City FC in exchange for $100,000 in “intra-league transfer funds.”
Rodriguez, 31, was the National Women’s Soccer League’s Rookie of the Year in 2016 with Sky Blue FC (now Gotham). She has made 152 NWSL appearances and spent the 2024 season with Angel City after winning a league title in 2022 with the Portland Thorns.
Rodriguez has also represented her native Costa Rica 107 times in international competition, scoring 58 goals. She scored Costa Rica’s first FIFA Women’s World Cup goal in a 1-1 draw against Spain in 2015.
Friday’s trade for Rodriguez marked the Current’s second player acquisition in 24 hours: KC on Thursday signed free-agent goalkeeper Laurel Ivory to a contract through 2025 with a mutual option for 2026.
The Current also bid farewell to veteran goalkeepers AD Franch and Almuth Schult, announcing that neither will return to the team in 2025. Both players are free agents who are out of contract.
Franch was acquired by the Current in 2021. In 2022, she was a finalist for goalkeeper of the year, helping lead KC on a 13-match unbeaten streak that paved the way to a berth in the league’s championship game.
But Franch struggled to maintain her starting spot both in 2024 and this year. Schult took over after the Current’s 4-1 loss to Washington Spirit on Aug. 25 and never relinquished the No. 1 role.
Schult’s “per-game” numbers, as measured in both standard and advanced metrics, placed her among the NWSL’s top-performing goalkeepers. And the Current had planned to bring her back in 2025.
Instead, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations, Schult chose to return to Europe in order to be closer to her family.
So this week’s addition of Ivory gives KC’s roster its first known goalkeeper for the looming 2025 season.
“Laurel is a great young goalkeeper who can strengthen a position that is critical for us,” Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski said in a team news release announcing the signing of Ivory. “We’ve seen firsthand how good she can play, and we are happy to have her come to Kansas City.”
Ivory has been in the league since 2022 with the Seattle Reign. She made six saves while facing 19 KC shots during a scoreless draw in May. She also played for the U.S. Youth National Team.
Of course, “strengthen a position” isn’t exactly the sort of phrase used often to describe a starting NWSL goalkeeper. It figures there’s more to come for KC here.
Reports out of South America have linked the Current to Brazilian national team goalkeeper Lorena. It stands to reason that KC may yet add a powerhouse name at this important position.
Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.
This story was originally published December 20, 2024 at 5:09 PM.