Match Preview: KC Current at Washington Spirit

Chances are, when the 2024 league schedule was announced, anyone eyeballing the Olympic break–the 50 days in July and August between league matches–would assume that would be a relatively quiet time for the Kansas City Current. Well, as the team prepares to finally resume its regular season schedule this Sunday in Washington, the “break” has proven to be anything but quiet.

First the team successfully navigated the group stage and semifinals of the Summer Cup, setting up a date with Gotham in the October final. Then Kansas City hosted the two rounds of the latest iteration of the Women’s Cup and hoisted the first trophy in the Current’s short history.

Additionally, the team has made several roster moves, working to improve an already very strong side. Players like Spaanstra, Lauren, Lavogez & Hisey all left or were cut. Meanwhile the Current brought in Cook, Jereko, Schult, and Hildah Magaia. (For those keeping track, this squad now features athletes from the US, Brazil, Canada, Malawi, Germany, Sweden, Kenya, South Africa, and Denmark.)

This is all to say nothing of the huge NWSL announcement this week on the new CBA that effectively grants the players more rights and more money. Gone is the draft, including the damned expansion drafts that, at least indirectly, cost KC Loera and Del Fava this past off season. By eliminating the amateur draft, the NWSL more closely aligns with the practices of leagues all over the world, but also gives rise to the possibility of a few super teams emerging. Any star player coming out of college (or younger) is now free to pick their preferred landing spot from any interested team. Is there a chance, with their shiny new stadium, that the Current are able to attract many of the best new players?

(The new CBA does a lot of other things too–among them requiring players to sign off on any trades, increasing the salary cap and league minimums, giving players more housing options, granting teams at least some freedom to charter flights, etc.)

So, with all this backdrop, the Current, sitting second place in league standings, get to return their attention to the race towards the NWSL Shield (given to the team with the best regular season record) and the postseason.

The reason the team is second instead of first is because their last regular season match, all the way back on July 6, was their only loss of the season, 1-2 to the Orlando Pride. And as great as Kansas City has been through the first 16 matches this season, even a little slipup over the home stretch could see them fall down the standings. They trail the Pride and are only one point ahead of the Spirit and four points clear of Gotham. Their final ten matches include two against the Spirit, one away to the Pride and one home to Gotham. In fact, seven of those ten matches are against teams currently occupying playoff spots.

That difficult stretch begins early Sunday, with an 11:00am kickoff in our nation’s capital. The winner of this match will continue to push Orlando for pole position, while the loser has a lot more ground to try to make up.

While Trinity Rodman likely won’t actually wear her new Olympic gold medal to Sunday’s match, she is just part of a very impressive Washington lineup that fully expects to go toe-to-toe with KC. Aubrey Kingsbury is a veteran keeper and one of the league leaders in clean sheets this season. Croix Bethune is likely the odds-on favorite for Rookie of the Year and has combined with teammate Ouleymata Sarr in notching 12 goals thus far this season. Casey Krueger, Ashley Hatch, Andi Sullivan, and Esme Morgan are all names likely familiar to anyone who follows international soccer. The Washington Spirit last won the NWSL Championship in 2021 but are definitely looking to make another run at the title.

On the other side of the pitch, Kansas City has had a long time to dwell on their only loss of the season (their only loss in any competition in nearly a year). They were barely challenged during the six matches (against domestic, Mexican, South African, and Spanish teams) of the Summer and Women’s Cups and likely have even greater depth at several positions than when the Olympic break started.

Alana Cook has fit in seamlessly along the back line; Almuth Schult earned a shutout in her one appearance; Hanna Glas is now healthy enough to play giving the team at least five quality fullback options; LaBonta, Hutton, DiBernardo, Feist, and Scott are as fit as they’ve been all season and create a midfield capable of bullying opponents and controlling the play; and then there is the real strength of this team–the attack.

Not only are Debinha and Chawinga starting to sync up (a scary thought for the league), but Hamilton was one of the league’s players of the month for July, Cooper has become one of the more intimidating presences across the NWSL, Prince is back from another Olympics and starting to contribute, Bia is getting closer to her return, and the team just reloaded with two more star attackers from overseas. The Golden Boot race is currently being led by the last African striker KC signed–could Jereko or Magaia follow in Temwa’s footsteps? It will be fascinating to see how Andonovski fits all these pieces together starting this weekend.

The Kansas City Current earned their first ever trophy last Saturday. A win against the Spirit would be an important step towards a couple more.

WHEN: Sunday, August 25 at 11:00 AM (Central Time)

WHERE: Audi Field in Washington, D.C.

HOW TO WATCH: CBS Sports Network/Paramount+/38 The Spot

Record:

KC Current: 10-5-1 (35 points, 2nd place in NWSL league standings)

Washington Spirit: 11-1-4 (34 points, 3rd place in NWSL league standings)

Last Match:

KC Current: 1-0 win over Atlético de Madrid in the Women’s Cup

Washington Spirit: 2-3 defeat to the Chicago Fire in the Summer Cup