Rodriguez(s) Help Kansas City in the Bay

There are, of course, former Kansas City Current players dotted around the NWSL (and other leagues). For a couple of years, one common landing spot has been the Utah Royals, who currently employ four ex-KC athletes: Kate Del Fava, Cece Delzer, Alex Loera, & Alexa Spaanstra. However, in 2026, no opposing roster likely hits as close to home for Current fans as does Bay FC’s. Not one but two shocking offseason transactions saw young, talented, (favorite) players taking their skills west. The departures of Alex Pfeiffer and especially Claire Hutton are moments that a lot of Current fans point to when asked what has gone wrong for the team this season.

Add to this the fact that Bay also employs Jordan Silkowitz as their starting keeper, and watching Bay can feel a little like watching what Kansas City could have been.

In return, the Current do have a pair of former Bay athletes in Kayla Sharples (who spent less than a full season in California) and Penelope Hocking. Sharples has obviously become an important piece of Kansas City’s backline and helped anchor a record-setting defensive performance last season. Hocking, after leading Bay in goals scored in 2025, has been a largely ineffective (and undisciplined) addition to KC’s attack this season.

It is with this background that the Current headed to San Jose to clash with Bay for the first time this year. Would Hutton and Pfeiffer remind KC of everything they’re missing. Would the Current be able to build on last week’s win and further solidify their place above the playoff line?

Even before kickoff, Kansas City faithful had reason to worry as the injury list kept growing during the week:

For anyone counting, that’s five defenders and two goalkeepers listed as OUT (Questionable in Robinson’s case). That left exactly four defenders (Ball, Sharples, Rodriguez, and Rouse) as fully healthy (Rouse is just returning from her own injury), and one keeper (Jordan) on the regular roster. Because of this, the team did add two players: defender Itala Gemelli and goalkeeper Kaylin Williams-Mosier, on short term loans–basically call-ups from Current II.

Then the gameday roster was announced and not only was Robinson absent, but Chawinga would also not be appearing. We’ve recently discussed the Current’s dramatically different results with/without Chawinga, so her inability to play was another huge blow to KC’s hopes. The team’s starting eleven looked like this:

STORM HITTIN’ IN SAN JOSE 🌁

— KC Current (@kansascitycurrent.bsky.social) 2026-09-05T01:02:20.938Z

The team would actually be in for one more surprise before the opening kickoff as Elizabeth Ball would suffer a knock during warmups, meaning Gemelli would make the start (and her NWSL debut) with only four defenders total available for Armas to call upon.

The makeshift backline would be under regular pressure over the first ten minutes, with Pfeiffer nearly creating the opening goal on a counterattack at the three-minute mark. Another couple of flurries in an end-to-end opening would lead to Kansas City earning a corner kick. Izzy Rodriguez came to the nearside of the field for an in-swinging delivery. And then, well, it went untouched inside the far post. How about an olimpico to open the scoring?

The “shot” had an xG of 0.01. Unlikely anyone had that goal on their bingo card.

Following the goal, the Current seemed to start imposing their will more consistently. Nice buildup in the 18th minute led to a Debinha shot that had Silkowitz beat, but was saved off the line by a defender. However, the frenetic pace of the opening 20 minutes would gradually slow with few clearcut chances either way though most of the rest of the half.

That changed, however, with the final kick of the first stanza, when Pfeiffer raced onto a long ball over the top and just got a touch before Jordan was able to claim it. That allowed Karlie Lema to pounce for a shot at an empty goal. For Kansas City, a team that has really struggled on the road all season (only two wins away from KC), heading into the half with a 1-0 lead would have been exactly what that would have hoped for. Instead, it was a new game heading into the final 45. An additional concern for the Current was a yellow shown to Rouse shortly before half, meaning a backline already with zero depth, would have even less room for error through the rest of the match.

No changes for either team coming out of halftime. Bay’s 11 points earned at home are worst in the league, and their 6 goals scored in second halves is also the lowest in the NWSL this year. So, if Kansas City could grab another tally, the full three points would be theirs for the taking.

In the 66th minute, Debinha gave way to Rocky Rodríguez and almost immediately, Hopkins and Rodríguez combined to nearly push KC back in front. Ten minutes later, Amelia White replaced Rouse (pushing Cooper to right back) and her energy also seemed to inspire KC to push forward. White rifled a shot with her first touches that forced Silkowitz into a leaping save. She then helped the Current earn multiple late corner kicks, but Izzy’s magic from the first half couldn’t be replicated.

In the 84th minute, KC used its final sub window, bringing in Hocking for DiBernardo. This again signaled Armas’s desire to go for the win, as Hocking would be more of an obvious attacking option. And, in the end, it would be one of those subs that would create the difference. With one Rodriguez already scoring a golazo for the Current, it would be the other Rodríguez who would blast an equally impressive dagger into the hearts of the home crowd.

On the goal, Bethune earned her league-leading tenth assist. The Current stymied any Bay efforts through the five minutes of stoppage time and did end up walking away with the full complement of points up for grabs. For the time being, this jumps KC up to sixth in the standings and actually has the team within three points of second place. They will return home a week from today with a match against the struggling (but also always dangerous) Orlando Pride.