The KC Current Season Couldn’t have Started Stronger

The NWSL has entered an international break, meaning no matches for two weeks. And while yes, the season is only about 12% complete, this pause allows for a reflection on how things are going thus far.

The answer for Kansas City? Pretty darn well!

Starting with the obvious, a quick glance at the standings reveals significant separation already. Each of the 14 teams have played for a possible nine points, and yet just two, the Kansas City Current and the Orlando Pride, are perfect thus far. In fact, there is only one other team to not have taken a loss, Angel City, but they opened with a pair of draws. The team sitting in third place, the Washington Spirit, is the same team KC defeated as visitors in matchday two and so are stuck at six points earned.

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Tune in to any discussion of the state of the league, and much of the talk will simply be praise of what’s happening in Kansas City. Throughout last weekend’s match against the Royals, the TV commentators couldn’t help themselves but profusely compliment the home team, noting repeatedly how in control they were. The broadcast also mentioned that it’s been nearly a decade since an NWSL team opened the season with three straight multi-goal victories. The Current have won their three matches with the scores 3-1, 2-0, & 3-0.

Multiple week three NWSL power rankings have jumped the Current into first.

Yes, technically KC still sits second in the table based on the goal differential tiebreaker with Orlando, but digging into the numbers a bit more reveals multiple ways that the Midwesterners’ start has been more impressive than the Floridians’. For one thing, much of Orlando’s +9 goal differential came from the season-opening 6-0 shellacking of the lowly Chicago Stars. The (no longer Red) Stars are the only team to earn zero points thus far, having conceded nine and scored just a single goal. Additionally, Orlando needed a PK from Marta (on her second attempt) to ease past the San Diego Wave by a 2-1 scoreline at home.

But the main difference between Kansas City and Orlando to this point is the fact that KC has defeated the Washington Spirit (on the road) while Orlando’s most impressive win is probably the one against the Wave–the same Wave team that just barely snuck past the Utah Royals 3-2 at home. Besides San Diego and Chicago, Orlando’s other win was against NJ/NY Gotham, another team that is currently winless.

Ignoring the matches played against Orlando and KC, the Pride’s opponents have combined to win just a single game while the Current’s opponents have lost just once. Add to this that Washington defeated Orlando in early March in the Challenge Cup, and it’s clear whose resume is stronger to this point.

The first trophy of 2025 goes to the Washington Spirit! 🥳 2025 Challenge Cup Presented by @elfcosmetics.bsky.social

— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 2025-03-08T03:54:00.965Z

As has been discussed, Kansas City also had a very strong opening to the 2024 season, winning the first three games and not losing until the 16th match. However, there are some things that suggest a stronger opening to ’25 than ’24. One thing KC definitely had going for it to open last season was a lot of scoring. The Teal set the league record for most goals in a season and most different goal scorers, but much of that production came in the early months. The Current put up a 5-spot thrice last spring before their pace cooled off significantly in the summer and fall. As the team prepared for the postseason, their offense had basically become: get the ball to Chawinga and let her cook.

Here’s the thing, as good as their offense was, their defense was often underwhelming. A 5-4 season-opening victory is exciting for the fans but is frustrating for a team and coaching staff tasked with limiting the opponent’s chances. KC’s first defensive shutout last season didn’t come until the 8th game, a 0-0 draw. Shortly after that, the team conceded late to lose points in a 3-3 tie at home to Louisville. The defense did seem to improve as the season went on but still had a rather poor showing in the game that mattered most, the 2-3 defeat in the league semifinal.

So how do these performances from 2024 compare to what the team has shown thus far this year? Definitive improvement!

Looking first at the offense, while the total number of goals through the season’s first three games is down just a bit, Kansas City has score eight already–a solid 2.67 goals per game average. A year ago, they scored 11 in their first three matches but needed almost every one of them because they gave up seven.

Additionally, as we’ve stated, the Current’s goal-scoring pace slowed down dramatically last year as the season progressed, though they did end up setting the new league record for most goals in a season at 57. Three matches in this year, KC is on pace to shatter last year’s mark. They’ll net 69 goals if they continue to score an average of 2.67 per contest.

And while yes, the reigning MVP is contributing to the goal-scoring party, the attack this season feels like a more complete team effort. Debinha and Cooper both already have multiple contributions, and the offense is poised to only get stronger as Bia returns to match fitness and new additions like Haley Hopkins and Flora Marta Lacho are fully integrated.

The biggest difference though between this year and last is the defensive performance. As stated, three games into the start of 2024 KC had conceded seven times. Three games in this year? Just a single goal allowed. The +7 goal differential to this point in ’25 is nearly double the +4 three games in a year ago. Again, it took until the 8th game last year to earn a shutout and the team has already done that twice this new season. New keeper Lorena was called upon to make a couple of big saves during the contest in Washington, but really didn’t face any danger at all last weekend against the Royals.

Scoring multiple goals and keeping other teams from finding the net is a recipe for success.

A final note in comparing the starts of the past two seasons: yes, KC earned three straight victories in 2024, but they were against the teams that finished 6th, 10th, and 12th in the final league standings. In the 4th game, the Current went on the road against the team that would finish 3rd and only earned a draw. It seems very likely that this year’s opening victories (especially the one in DC) will prove more impressive, and if the team can snag another W when they return to action on April 12 in San Diego, they will officially be off to a better start.

One other way to qualify the Current’s performance to open the season is to consider the recognition that individual players are receiving. This being an international break, numerous KC-based athletes are jetting off to represent their home countries: Rocky Rodriguez (Costa Rica), Jereko (Kenya), Lorena (Brazil), Nichelle Prince (Canada), Mary Long (US U18), Katie Scott (US U18), Alana Cook (US), Claire Hutton (US), & Michelle Cooper (US).

All this is in addition to the callup Temwa Chawinga received in the February international window and the likelihood that Debinha (and potentially Bia) return to the Brazilian squad sooner than later. It wasn’t that long ago that Current players were getting very little love from international teams; before Cooper and Hutton earned caps in the SheBelieves Cup, no KC player had suited up for the USWNT since Hailie Mace in 2022.

In addition to national team action, Kansas City has been owning the “Team of the Week” honors early this season. Both week two and week three saw four KC players listed among the Best XI with Chawinga, Debinha, LaBonta, Cooper, Cook, and Sharples all being recognized–in addition to Andonovski nabbing coach of the week. That’s over half of the Current’s starting lineup being identified as the best to do it at their positions. (Debinha and Chawinga have been recognized for all three weeks of the season thus far!)

Certainly, there is no guarantee that early season success will equate to a consistently strong performance for the next eight months, but it’s also true that there is almost no way that 2025 could have begun any better for the Kansas City Current. They are scoring goals, playing strong defense, beating tough opponents, and getting individual and team recognition. Oh, and they’re having fun while doing it.

Oh hi there, Lo 🤣Shoutout to Michelle Cooper for keeping her composure to finish her sentence despite a mid-interview ambush from Lo LaBonta

— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 2025-03-30T01:48:14.365Z