KC Current crushed by Seattle Reign on the road: Is there cause for concern?

The Kansas City Current hadn’t fallen behind by three goals in a match since August 2024.

At least until Wednesday night.

In Spokane, Washington, the Current found itself on the wrong end of a lopsided half against the Seattle Reign. This time, there was no second-half comeback, as the Current fell to a second straight loss, a 3-0 drubbing.

KC played a rotated squad — with plenty of regulars on the bench — but the mistakes went beyond the inexperience Wednesday night.

“We thought about managing the week the right way,” Current coach Chris Armas said. “The rotation was with good intention and knowing in the second half we’d bring in certain players and reinforcements. It just was a tricky 22-minute stretch, three goals that were hard to recover from.”

For the third straight game to start the season, the Current fell behind quickly.

Angharad James-Turner’s 18th-minute volley found the net off the palm of KC goalkeeper Lorena.

Then, carbon-copy goals from Brittany Ratcliffe and Madison Mercado — who got on the end of crosses whipped in by Sofia Huerta in the 26th and 33rd minutes — saw the Current shell-shocked down 3-0 in the 33rd minute.

The Current had hoped for a reaction to going down 1-0, but it didn’t come.

“As a group, we win as a team and lose as a team,” said Haley Hopkins, who declined to place blame on the rotated squad. “(Going down 1-0) is an opportunity and a moment for us to reset and come together as a team and figure out what we need to do and just move forward fast. We just weren’t sharp enough in those moments, and Seattle capitalized on the chances that they had.”

The Current didn’t mount much of a response until some of the team’s “heavy hitters” were subbed on. The Current started two rookies: Laney Rouse and Gianna Paul, as well as short-term signing Kelsey Branson in the midfield. Branson spent the preseason with the Current.

The Current did not call upon any of Croix Bethune, Debinha, Lo LaBonta, Michelle Cooper, and Ellie Bravo-Young in the starting lineup, as Armas opted for rotation given a road trip that sees KC play three games in seven days. That crew of starters, minus Bravo-Young, did enter as substitutes.

Armas said the decision to rotate the squad was for the players’ “health and safety.” With multiple players coming back from injury — as well as a questionable turf field — the Current opted to take a cautious approach.

As for the players making their first career starts and/or debuts, Armas hopes the experience pays dividends.

“These are not easy games and fixtures on the road,” Armas said. “So these games for these players …you would love for it to come in another way, with a victory. But it’ll pay dividends. The real minutes, tough minutes on the road, stressful. It’s good for players, believe it or not. It’ll pay dividends in the long run for them.”

Armas, as new KC Current head coach, has one win, two losses, no draws to date. The Current has trailed in all three games so far this season.

While squad rotation might have been at play in this result, there are some worrying trends.

“We’ll be ready for Saturday,” Armas said. “Big reaction from our team.”

Up Next: The third and final match of the Current’s busy week is on Saturday against the Portland Thorns at 3 p.m. Central.

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.

This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 10:41 PM.