Kansas City Current – Page 2 – Women's Soccer Express

NWSL News of Note: Nichelle Prince extends with KC, Dash re-sign Avery Patterson and Kiki Van Zanten, Elin Rubensson departs Dash

In this end-of-the-week edition of NWSL News of Note…

The Kansas City Current have signed forward Nichelle Prince to a new two-year contract that should keep the Canadian international in teal through at least the 2026 NWSL season.
The Houston Dash, which is currently without both a head coach and a non-interim general manager, have retained two rookie players via new contracts: Defender/midfielder Avery Patterson and midfielder Kiki Van Zanten.
However, the Dash will not have the services of Swedish international midfielder Elin Rubensson, who departs Houston after one season.

NWSL News of Note: Angel City’s new training facility, Current upgrade Caitlin Carducci to GM, Courage’s Cortnee Vine on mental health break

This week, Angel City announced that they will move “next door” into a training facility recently vacated by the Los Angeles Rams. The to-be-renovated facility is expected to be ready ahead of the 2025 NWSL preseason.

Also, the Kansas City Current’s interim general manager Caitlin Carducci is “interim” no more after a title upgrade on Wednesday.

Finally, Australian international Cortnee Vine is “taking some time off” to prioritize her mental health.

NWSL News of Note: Chicago Red Stars rebrand; Leroux, DiBernardo, McNabb, and Brown extend; Lacasse and Ordóñez on SEI List; Montefusco retires

Among the notables that happened during the international break…

The Chicago Red Stars drop “Red” from the club’s name and introduced a new crest.
Four players signed new contracts: Sydney Leroux of Angel City, Vanessa DiBernardo of the Kansas City Current, Kristen McNabb of the San Diego Wave, and Ryanne Brown of the Seattle Reign.
Also, Megan Montefusco (née Oyster) of the Orlando Pride officially announced her retirement. Montefusco was twice capped by the senior USWNT.
Two players, Cloé Lacasse (ACL/meniscus) of the Utah Royals and the Houston Dash’s Diana Ordóñez (shoulder surgery) were moved to the Season-Ending Injury List.
In coaching news, Utah Royals interim head coach Jimmy Coenraets is no longer “interim” after signing a two-year contract.
The NWSL Disciplinary Committee announced additional match suspensions for Chicago Red Stars forward Ludmila and Washington Spirit forward Rosemonde Kouassi.

Additionally, the league announced that Grammy-winner Melissa Etheridge will be performing the National Anthem at the 2024 NWSL Championship in Kansas City, Missouri.

NWSL News of Note: Merritt Mathias and Desiree Scott announces retirement, Alexa Spaanstra and Shae Holmes extend, Wave sale completed, Expansion update

This week, two long-time NWSL players, who both played in the NWSL’s inaugural season, Angel City defender Merritt Mathias and Kansas City Current midfielder Desiree Scott, announced their retirements.

Meanwhile, three players —Portland Thorns forward Alexa Spaanstra, Seattle Reign center-back Shae Holmes, and Orlando Pride forward Summer Yates — are set to stay in the NWSL through the 2026 season.

Also, Racing Louisville back-up goalkeeper Olivia Sekany has been loaned to the Brisbane Roar of the A-League until early March 2025.

In team news, the sale of the San Diego Wave from Ron Burkle to the family of Lauren Leichtman and Arthur Levine has been completed.

Regarding expansion, an article from Sports Business Journal has added Nashville and Philadelphia to the list of known bids in the hunt for the second 2026 expansion franchise.

Finally, the Red Stars are not the only professional soccer team in Chicago looking to build a new soccer-specific stadium.

NWSL News of Note, Teams Edition: Billionaire Marc Lasry expected to acquire controlling stake in Courage; Bay FC to build training facility, Current stadium to host 2025 NCAA College Cup

Leading this edition of notables is the news that Steve Malik, the primary owner of the North Carolina Courage is in formal talks to sell a 60% stake in the Courage to billionaire Marc Lasry. Should that deal go through retired NWSL player Lauren Holiday is expected to have “a very active role” in the Courage organization.

Also, Bay FC has announced plans to acquire a lease of land on Treasure Island, in the San Francisco Bay, for a permanent and dedicated training facility, which would also include offices for its sporting operations.

In head coaching news, the Houston Dash have officially parted ways with Fran Alonso who had been mysteriously absent from the team since the end of June.

Other notables include:

Angel City: MLS club Los Angeles FC acquires minority stake
Kansas City Current: CPKC Stadium will host 2025 NCAA Women’s College Cup
Gotham FC: Ali Krieger named Club Ambassador
Portland Thorns: RAJ Sports awarded Portland WNBA Franchise
Racing Louisville’s attendance woes — “We’d love to see more of you”

Angel City’s violation of the salary cap and other league rules is covered in a separate post: Angel City FC fined $200,000 and docked 3 points for violating salary cap and other league rules.

Additionally, SafeSports investigation into former Chicago Red Stars head coach Rory Dames has apparently been closed due to “insufficient” evidence. However, the root cause appears to be a blatantly deficient investigation.

NWSL News of Note: Katie Stengel and Lily Woodham to Crystal Palace, Current sign goalkeeper Katie Fraine

Leading the notables for Friday is the transfer of Katie Stengel from Gotham FC to WSL debutante Crystal Palace FC. Palace also acquired another NWSL player, Welsh international Lily Woodham, from the Seattle Reign on a short loan.

The Kansas City Current bolstered their goalkeeper depth chart with the signing of Katie Fraine, who had a long career in Sweden following a stint with the Atlanta Beat of the now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer.

Also, as rumored, former San Diego Wave forward Sofia Jakobsson signed with the London City Lionesses.

NWSL News of Note: Royals Release Amandine Henry and Ifeoma Onumonu, Debinha stays in KC, plus more contract extensions

Friday, September 6th was not a slow news day in the NWSL.

Leading the notables are the addition of two new league front office hires, retired New Zealand international Sarah Gregorius for the role of “Senior Director, Sporting” and Karla Thompson as the new “Director of Youth Development”.

The top player-related headline is the departure of French midfielder Amandine Henry from the Utah Royals.

Here are the rest of the notables:

Kansas City Current: Debinha extends through 2026, with option for 2027
Houston Dash: Center back Natalie Jacobs extends through 2028
Houston Dash: Austrian midfielder Sarah Puntigam signs on for two more years
Orlando Pride: Back-up goalkeeper McKinley Crone extends through 2026
Utah Royals: Nigerian forward Ifeoma Onumonu Released

NWSL News of Note: Hanna Glas to Reign, Sophie Hirst to Thorns, Royals sign defender Julia Grosso

The notables for September 1st and 2nd include a pair of trades and a player signing:

Kansas City Current trade defender Hanna Glas to Seattle Reign
Houston Dash trade Sophie Hirst to the Portland Thorns
Utah Royals sign American defender Julia Grosso

Yes, there is now a second “Julia Grosso” in this league, after the addition of Canadian international midfielder Julia Grosso in August. Utah’s new signing hails from Florida and played at the University of Kentucky for five years.

NWSL News of Note: Sharples to KC, Anderson Extends with Chicago, Flynn on Utah’s SEI List

Here are the notable updates since Tuesday’s update:

Sharples to KC, Silkowitz to Bay FC
Utah Royals: Defender Lauren Flynn placed on SEI List
Chicago Red Stars: Center-back Hannah Anderson signs on for 3 more seasons

NWSL News of Note: Dahlkemper to Bay FC, Proulx to Juventus, Nielsen and Wheeler Re-Up, Free Agency Lists

A few more days are left in the August transfer and the hits keep on coming.

Here are the headlines since the last update:

Abby Dahlkemper Traded from the San Diego Wave to Bay FC
Canadian goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx Traded from Bay FC to Juventus
Paige Nielsen Signs New Four-Year Contract with the Houston Dash
Ellie Wheeler Signs New Four-Year Contract with the Kansas City Current
Portland Thorns Trade Portuguese forward Ana Dias to Tigres UANL
Washington Spirit Upgrade NTR Players to Season Contracts

Also, the initial lists of free agents for the 2025 season were released.