The NWSL's Kansas City Current officially placed defender Alana Cook on the Season Ending Injury list on Thursday, after the center back tore her left ACL, MCL, and meniscus in last Friday's 1-0 win over Orlando.
Since joining the Current in a 2024 midseason trade from Seattle, the 28-year-old starter has anchored the backline of her new team to the tune of 10 shutouts in 19 matches.
The injury is also a setback to Cook's USWNT return, with the defender logging her 30th cap and first international minutes since October 2023 just last month.
"Alana has made a big impact for our club on and off the pitch in a short period of time, and our hearts absolutely break for her," said Kansas City head coach and Cook's former USWNT boss Vlatko Andonovski in a club statement.
"Throughout her career, Alana has proven to be determined, resilient, and disciplined with an optimistic spirit," he continued. "We are confident she will carry those same attributes into her recovery process. The team will stand by her every step of the way, and we eagerly await the day she is able to join us on the pitch again."
Kansas City attack also suffers injury losses
Cook's season-ending knock wasn't the only blow to the NWSL-leading Current, as attacking midfielder Debinha and striker Temwa Chawinga also exited Friday's pitch with injuries. With five goals each, both are currently in a four-way tie for second in the Golden Boot race.
Andonovski told the media on Wednesday that while 2024 MVP Chawinga is still undergoing evaluation, Debinha "is not probably going to be back until after the summer."
With both being considered 2025 MVP frontrunners, the losses may leave fans wondering how long Kansas City can maintain their spot atop the league.
The USA Rugby women's 15s shattered the sport's US attendance record on Friday, welcoming 10,518 fans to Kansas City's CPKC Stadium for the Eagles' matchup against Canada.
Though the world No. 9 ranked US fell short in their come-from-behind push, falling 26-14 to No. 2 Canada in the opening game of the 2025 Pacific Four Series, Friday's crowd gave the players a massive off-field victory.
"To see the crowd be over 10,500 like that was absolutely fantastic in this women's purposely built stadium, and to debut rugby here in that stadium as well," said USA captain Kate Zackary after the game.
Even Canada's athletes lauded the significance of the record-setting crowd, despite the overwhelmingly US cheers from the home fans.
"Being here in North America and having 10,000 people coming to watch women's sports was so amazing," remarked Canada's Sarah-Maude Lachance.
Rugby's rise spurs exponential growth
After the Eagles secured Olympic bronze in rugby sevens last summer, the sport gained significant momentum.
The national attention captured by 2024 Olympians like superstar Ilona Maher earned USA Rugby a multimillion-dollar investment, helped fuel a new domestic league, and minted fresh fans en route to Friday's attendance record.
In the long-term, that growth could turn the US-hosted 2033 Rugby World Cup into a marquee national event.
For the rugby faithful, however, the biggest win is seeing those new to the sport become lifelong fans.
"Everyone I talked to after [Friday's] game who didn't know what rugby was, [I hope] has fallen in love with it," said Zachary.
How to attend the next USA Rugby game
The Eagles will take aim at breaking Friday's attendance record in Washington, DC, on July 19th, when they'll face No. 16 Fiji in a send-off game before August's 2025 Rugby World Cup in England.
Tickets to the Audi Field doubleheader, which also includes the US men's side against England, are available online now.
Just Women's Sports announced today that women's sports superstars Kelley O’Hara and Lisa Leslie will be recording the season finale of their hit studio show Fast Friends live in Kansas City during NWSL Championship weekend.
Fast Friends is a rebrand of Leslie and O’Hara’s Olympic show, The Gold Standard, which ran throughout the Paris Olympics and concluded with Leslie and O’Hara taking a spontaneous trip to Paris to see the gold medal games in person.
'Fast Friends' live show tickets now available
The show features O’Hara and Leslie giving their takes on the biggest headlines in women's sports, from the WNBA Finals to the NWSL MVP race. Scheduled for Thursday, November 21st, the Fast Friends live show will look back at the year in women's sports before previewing the weekend's NWSL Championship match.
The show will feature surprise guests from the biggest names in soccer as well as special segments sponsored by Ally and EA SPORTS FC.
Tickets run $20 per person, with a limited number available for purchase via Eventbrite starting today. The taped show will be distributed across JWS channels in the lead-up to the Championship game.
'Fast Friends' headlines slate of Championship Weekend events
In addition to attending the live Fast Friends taping, fans can also catch Just Women's Sports at NWSL Fan Fest on the day of the Championship game, where they can show off their gameday fits and snap some photos at JWS' interactive photo-op.
Just Women’s Sports is also sending one lucky fan and their plus one to Kansas City for an unforgettable NWSL Championship weekend. The grand prize includes tickets to the game, seats at the live show, hotel accommodations, flight vouchers, and rideshare credits. Fans can try their luck by entering the giveaway now.
In addition to making a splash on the ground in Kansas City, JWS will make sure NWSL fans everywhere feel included in the fun by posting industry-leading social coverage throughout the weekend's festivities.
Kansas City's pioneering CPKC Stadium has been tapped to host the 2024 NWSL Championship, the league announced Wednesday morning.
The stadium opened earlier this year as the first venue to be built specifically for an NWSL team. So far this season, the unbeaten Current have been selling out the 11,500-seat capacity stadium for every home game.
It will mark the first time that Kansas City has hosted the NWSL Championship, and the Current's first-place perch in the league standings means they could very well feature in the match come November. The Current are one of just two teams to have not lost a game yet this season.
The 2024 Championship will take place on November 23rd — the latest-scheduled NWSL final in league history.
"CPKC Stadium epitomizes the explosive growth and investment we are witnessing in the NWSL, women’s soccer, and women’s sports around the world," NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said in a press release.
"It was a natural choice to stage the league’s marquee event in a venue that exemplifies the profound impact of infrastructure, investment, and community support on the continued development and success of our sport."
Considering the team's track record of selling out home matches, it’s almost guaranteed that this year's Championship game will sell out. Last year’s league final, held at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, set a Championship attendance record with 25,011 fans.
"The NWSL Championship is one of the premier global sporting events in the world," said Current co-founder and owner Chris Long. "We're absolutely thrilled that Kansas City and CPKC Stadium were chosen to host this prestigious event."
Sam Mewis will not return to the Kansas City Current, with the club announcing her departure on social media.
The team account posted an image of Mewis, along with the caption: “Thank you for being part of this club @sammymewy, we wish you all the best.” The 31-year-old midfielder enters the NWSL offseason as a free agent.
Thank you for being part of this club @sammymewy, we wish you all the best ❤️ pic.twitter.com/2nk4CRFQpu
— KC Current (@thekccurrent) November 29, 2023
Mewis was traded to Kansas City in late 2021, but she made just two appearances for the club as part of the NWSL Challenge Cup in March 2022. The 31-year-old midfielder has been sidelined since then with a chronic knee injury, and she detailed her ongoing recovery on a recent episode of the “Snacks” podcast.
The initial injury occurred during a November 2017 match for the U.S. women’s national team, after which she missed roughly six months. Even while dealing with the “really serious injury” to her knee cartilage, she returned to the USWNT and the NWSL, starring at the 2019 World Cup and winning two NWSL titles with the North Carolina Courage.
Mewis played through the injury until 2021, when her knee stopped responding positively to rehabilitation. She won a bronze medal at the 2021 Olympics and played those two matches for the Current, but has not played since then.
She underwent knee surgery in January 2023, which followed an arthroscopic surgery in August 2021. Mewis described the most recent procedure as “a big deal,” which is why she remained mum about it up until earlier this month. The surgery placed cartilage donor grafts in her knee, which she called a “really difficult decision.”
“I felt like I had taken all of these steps to try to get back to playing and I just kind of kept hitting a wall,” she told her “Snacks” co-host Lynn Williams. “I kept failing in my rehab and having to start over and try all these new things and get more injections.
“And we just had reached the end of the line, where I didn’t like any of the options that were offered to me, which were basically stop or try and get this big surgery. And so it took me like months to make this decision
“There were no guarantees when it came to the surgery either. It was a big surgery. I was on crutches for eight weeks and no impact for, like, eight months.”
She added on “Snacks” that her goal for the future is to “get as healthy as possible.” She’s still in the gym and attending physical therapy, and she is working toward getting her knee back “as good as it can get.”
Sam Mewis provided an update on her knee injury, which has kept her off the pitch for the U.S. women’s national team since 2021.
The USWNT and Kansas City Current midfielder underwent a second surgery on her right knee in January 2023, and she detailed her progress before and since the procedure on the latest episode of the “Snacks” podcast for Just Women’s Sports.
Her goal right now is to “get as healthy as possible,” she told co-host Lynn Williams. But Mewis, 31, described the months leading up to her decision to have the second surgery as “one of the lowest points of my life.”
The initial injury occurred during a November 2017 match for the USWNT, after which she was sidelined for about six months. While she knew she was dealing with “a really serious injury” to her knee cartilage, she returned and became an integral part of the 2019 World Cup-winning squad.
Mewis managed to play through the injury until 2021, when her knee stopped responding positively to rehabilitation, she said. She played in the Olympics, winning the bronze medal in August, but has not played for the national team since then. She played in two preseason Challenge Cup matches for the Current in March 2022, and those mark her latest appearances in a professional match.
As time went on, she kept getting presented with “worse and worse choices and options” for treatment, she said.
“I think that was the lowest point, I just felt so frozen and numb by the prospect of not getting to have the career I thought I was going to have and I thought I had worked for,” she said.
After considering all her options, she chose to undergo another knee surgery in January, which followed an arthroscopic surgery in August 2021.
Mewis described the procedure as “a big deal,” which is why she hasn’t talked about it much to this point. The surgery placed cartilage donor grafts in her knee, which she said was a “really difficult decision.”
“I felt like I had taken all of these steps to try to get back to playing and I just kind of kept hitting a wall,” she said. “I kept failing in my rehab and having to start over and try all these new things and get more injections.
“And we just had reached the end of the line, where I didn’t like any of the options that were offered to me, which were basically stop or try and get this big surgery. And so it took me like months to make this decision
“There were no guarantees when it came to the surgery either. It was a big surgery. I was on crutches for eight weeks and no impact for, like, eight months.”
Williams remained by her friend’s side as she made the decision.
“You didn’t know what the outcome of the surgery is going to be so you had to be in the right mental space to make sure you were OK with going through this really big, maybe life-changing thing,” Williams said, noting that it was hard to know how to support Mewis as she grappled with her injury.
But Mewis was glad to have Williams’ support, she said.
“I could not decide what to do. And I was so lucky to have you there with me as a friend. I just felt so conflicted,” she said, noting that she sought input from a number of surgeons. “I just wanted more opinions. I wanted somebody to tell me that there was another option and that they knew what I needed to do to fix it. I asked everybody’s opinion, I almost feel like I got too much information.
“And that made me even more conflicted. And I was really just sad. All I wanted was to play.”
Ultimately, Mewis opted for the surgery. She did her rehab at home, where she was surrounded by loved ones. And in hindsight, she believes that she made “the best decision I could with the options that I had.”
She also has gained a lot of perspective over the last couple of years, she said. Her goal now is to “get as healthy as possible.” She is still going to the gym and physical therapy, and she is working toward her goal of getting her knee back “as good as it can get.”
“It still isn’t ever like what I would have chosen,” Mewis said. “It’s so hard to talk about, because I’m in a better place now. So I’m almost laughing about it. But I really wasn’t well.”
Alex Loera was blindsided by her trade from the Kansas City Current to expansion team Bay FC, she wrote Wednesday in an Instagram caption.
The Current had told the 24-year-old defensive midfielder that she would be protected from the NWSL expansion draft on Dec. 15, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Instead, she was dealt to Bay FC, becoming the first player on the roster ahead of the team’s inaugural season in 2024.
In her Instagram post, Loera thanked the Current for “giving me the opportunity to live out my dream.” She was drafted by Kansas City in 2022 and made 30 appearances across her first two seasons. But the trade took her by surprise.
“I was not expecting this trade,” she wrote. “It is incredibly disheartening to know that this took place after I had expressed my feelings about the kind of loyal person I am and my desire to finish out the contract I had agreed to with KC. Nonetheless, thank you KC for everything.”
Loera’s contract runs through the 2025 NWSL season.
This isn’t the first time that Kansas City has shocked a player with a trade. The Current dealt Lynn Williams to Gotham FC ahead of the 2023 season for the No. 2 overall pick in the college draft.
Alex Loera becomes the first player to join NWSL expansion club Bay FC, arriving via trade from the Kansas City Current.
The 24-year-old defensive midfielder won the 2020 NCAA championship during her college career with Santa Clara, and she is thrilled to return to the Bay Area, she told reporters Wednesday. Bay FC cofounders Brandi Chastain, Aly Wagner, Danielle Slaton and Leslie Osborne also played for Santa Clara before starring for the USWNT.
“As soon as I heard that Bay FC could be a potential team in the league, I was so excited,” Loera said. “I was like, ‘Yep, I’m going to end up back here at some point.’ … So I am so excited. I cannot wait.”
Bay FC is set to start play in 2024, and Loera’s contract runs through 2025.
The Current received $175,000 in allocation funds and protection from Bay FC in the NWSL expansion draft on Dec. 15 in exchange for Loera. Bay FC and the Utah Royals will have the opportunity to select up to 12 players through the 12-round expansion draft, but the Current and the Orlando Pride already have acquired protection from Bay FC.
Bay FC general manager Lucy Rushton acknowledged that the team is excited to find a player with “Bay Area ties.” She also sees Loera as the perfect player with which the team can begin to build its roster.
“Alex is a competitor,” Rushton said. “She’s a winner, and she’s a leader in how she plays. So as a founding piece of our team, she really does epitomize everything that we’re looking for.”
THE WAIT IS OVER.
— Bay Football Club (@wearebayfc) November 15, 2023
Bay FC signs its first player in Club history, @alexisaloera! 🫧
NEWS: https://t.co/Ipe3iUAWCe#BayFC #WeCameToPlay pic.twitter.com/E2vzcw36AT
Lindsey Horan is excited about the investment Michele Kang could bring to Olympique Lyonnais.
Kang, who already owns the NWSL’s Washington Spirit, is set to become the majority owner of the Lyon women’s team. In an interview with Pro Soccer Wire, Horan said that she’s met Kang “many times” and called her “amazing.”
“And I think her aspirations and the things that she’s doing in the world are insane,” the Lyon midfielder said. “She’s not just saying things to say them, or to hope that it could happen, she’s going and making them happen. What she’ll do with Lyon is going to be absolutely incredible.”
As she prepares to take control of the club, Kang has been vocal about her goals, which include building the women’s team its own training center. Kang also is exploring the possibility of repurposing a local rugby venue as the team’s home stadium.
Not many women’s teams have their own training facilities or their own stadiums. The NWSL’s Kansas City Current opened their own training complex in 2022, and they are in the process of building the first women’s soccer-specific stadium.
“Our team isn’t just attached to the men’s team,” Horan told Pro Soccer Wire. “Our team is in itself its own. To see some of these teams around the world now having their own training facilities, having their own stadiums — that’s what they deserve.
“We women work just as hard and we’re professionals just as much as the men. So at least we should have our own training facility. We should have all access to the things that we need, that I’m pretty sure most men’s clubs get, and to have our own stadium would be incredible as well.”
Lyon is set to kick off the UEFA Champions League group stage at 3 p.m. ET Tuesday. The six-match group stage runs through the end of January, with 16 teams divided into four groups. Lyon is in Group B with Austria’s St. Pölten, Norway’s SK Brann and the Czech Republic’s SK Slavia Prague.
The Kansas City Current are joining the NWSL’s youth movement.
The first signing of the Vlatko Andonovski era in Kansas City is 15-year-old Alex Pfeiffer, who joined the club on a three-year deal.
“Alex is a tremendous talent we are so excited to bring to the Current,” general manager Camille Ashton said in a news release. “We believe she has the ability to impact this team for many years to come and are thrilled she chose to take this next step in her career to continue her development with us in KC.”
According to The Athletic, the move to Kansas City has been in the works since last summer. Pfeiffer attended a talent identification camp with the Current, and discussions began with agents and her parents about going pro.
The Current kept an eye on Pfeiffer, who also has spent significant time in the U.S. youth national team pool at the U-15, U-16 and U-17 levels. As a member of the U-15 team, she won the 2022 Concacaf Championship.
“There definitely was talk of going to some colleges and even seeing what that environment was like,” Pfeiffer told The Athletic. “But I saw what KC was doing. I feel like that was going to push me even more than going to college for four years.”
At 15 years and 338 days, Pfeiffer is the fourth-youngest player ever signed to an NWSL club. In March, Melanie Barcenas (15 years and 138 days) and Chloe Ricketts (15 years and 283 days) signed with the San Diego Wave and Washington Spirit, respectively. Olivia Moultrie opened the doors for youth players when she signed with the Portland Thorns at 15 years and 286 days old in 2021.
“I am very excited that Alex will be joining our club,” Andonovski said. “This is a great start for our plans to strengthen the pro player pathway for this club and this region. Alex is someone who can be a great example for players everywhere and can help this club achieve our goals, both near and long-term.”
Young phenom ready for the big stage 👏⁰⁰@AlexPfeiff17 | #KCBABY pic.twitter.com/DFQSpRm9Pa
— KC Current (@thekccurrent) October 30, 2023