Debinha’s return, Coop’s rise & the biggest storylines facing the KC Current

The Kansas City Current returns to action in National Women’s Soccer League play Friday night, with the club seeking to pick up where it left off.

The Current last played an NWSL game on June 20, taking a six-game win streak and eight-point lead in first place into the six-week break.

Head coach Vlatko Andonovski says the team isn’t paying attention to how much of a lead it has built atop the table.

“This league has shown that if you lose momentum or get complacent for a week and lose two games, things can change very quick,” Andonovski said. “So we don’t look at the standings or where we sit. All we’re focused on is winning the next game, and then we’ll start thinking about the next (game).”

Here are three storylines to watch as the Current kicks off the second half of the season:

Debinha’s return — and the KC Current’s health

One of the more impressive aspects of the Current’s dominance through the first half of the season was that it did so despite a severe injury crunch.

Debinha missed the final four games of the first half with a knee injury after putting herself in the MVP conversation with her early performances. She’s likely to be back within the next two weeks, possibly even Friday.

“We are going to determine whether she’s going to travel to Louisville or not after training today,” Andonovski said. “She’s healthy. She’s been training with the team. … This break came at the right time for some of the players, like Deb.”

Temwa Chawinga played and still scored eight goals in the first 13 games, but did so while battling a hip injury.

Michelle Cooper and Lo LaBonta both missed a couple of weeks. And the team lost Alana Cook for the season after a devastating knee injury. Bia Zaneratto took a few weeks to get going at the start of the season, coming off the Season Ending Injury list.

The road wasn’t all that smooth, yet the team still stepped up, no matter who was absent.

Midfielder Claire Hutton, who has had her fair share of midfield partners due to those injuries, said it comes down to the team’s standard of excellence.

“I think our team has that expectation that anybody can step up and make a difference,” Hutton said. “We’ve shown that this past month, and it just goes to show the trust that we have in the team.”

Can Michelle Cooper continue her first-half breakout?

For all the talk and attention players like Debinha, Bia and Chawinga receive, Michelle Cooper might be one of the most influential players on the team.

Case in point? The team hasn’t lost when Cooper plays.

She leads the NWSL in goals-plus-assists per 90 minutes (1.14). She also leads the league in plus/minus per 90 (2.28), and xG plus/minus per 90. So when Cooper plays, she makes goals happen, and the team wins.

Cooper said that while she has been working on fine-tuning some things, it’s important to stick with what’s made her successful.

“I think that’s going to be important for me going into the second half of the season,” Cooper said. “... “(Just doing) what I’ve been doing, and that’s going to help us naturally as a team continue to make strides on the table.”

A major trophy for the KC Current?

Cooper’s talk of making strides in the table is a bit ironic considering KC sits comfortably atop the NWSL standings. And as Andonovski said, the Current will focus on things game by game.

At the moment, KC is 11-2-0. The club has 13 games remaining — including seven of the last 11 at home. All the Current has to do is match Orlando’s record the whole way through, and the team would clinch the NWSL Shield — the trophy for the best record in the regular season — with two games left to play.

If the Current can open up a larger lead, it could clinch even sooner.

The NWSL Shield would mark the first major trophy the Current has won. Talks from ownership down to the players of “being the best club” eventually have to be backed by success on the field.

And with all due respect, trophies like The Women’s Cup or Teal Rising Cup — and even last year’s NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup — aren’t quite the major achievements the club strives for.

The NWSL Shield would be. And on Friday night in Louisville, the real push for the NWSL Shield begins.

That match between Racing Louisville and the Current on kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday and is available on Prime TV.