How the Kansas City Current built the NWSL's strongest roster.

As celebrations overtook Kansas City last weekend, players and fans reflected on the journey to reach the pinnacle over the past five seasons. For those in attendance at that first match at Legends Field in the shadow of Children’s Mercy Park, this moment felt impossible. 

It’s been a winding path. The Current shocked everyone by making the NWSL Final in year two, but it wasn’t sustainable. Well, until former FCKC manager Vlatko Andonovski became available following the USWNT’s disappointing performance at the World Cup.

The first season was fruitful, but Andonovski was far from satisfied with the ending. 

The Orlando Pride made history when they finalized a historic NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship double by outlasting the Kansas City Current and Washington Spirit, respectively. 

The Current front office – namely, Andonovski and newly appointed Caitlin Carducci – took that personally and doubled down on a roster that touted one of the best defensive records in the league over the back half of the season. That roster may have suffered heartbreak in the semifinal, but Carducci’s maneuvers in the aftermath reinforced a hungry group that has allowed just 10 goals in 21 matches this season. 

The crux of the roster refresh occurred last summer when Carducci took over for the departing Ashton. The Current needed goalkeeping, and they needed help defensively, but the bones of this season’s successful roster were in place. 

Through Star international players like Temwa Chawinga, Debinha, and Bia, the Current have helped open the global transfer market. KC built through free agency and free international transfers, while young domestic players like Michelle Cooper, Claire Hutton, and Hailie Mace were acquired via the draft or the club’s youth scouting. 

There are many ways to build a sustainable NWSL roster, but clubs have to explore every pathway.

Those key pieces were already in the bag by the time Carducci came into the picture; Ashton, to her credit, had acquired the attacking stars. Debinha signed during the league’s first ever free agency period. While Chawinga and Bia Zanaretto signed on free transfers in January 2024. Ellie Wheeler, Mace, Cooper, and Izzy Rodriguez were all drafted after the inaugural season back in KC. 

It was already a stacked roster; however, the defensive record wasn’t up to Andonovski’s standards. 

Yes, the Current could score, but they were also unable to reel in the match, and weren’t getting the saves that can paper over such mistakes. 

In stepped Carducci and the defensive overhaul. 

German Goalkeeper Almuth Schult arrived on a free, while $40,000 Allocation Money, $75,000 intra-league transfer funds, plus an additional $25,000 in intra-league transfer funds were what it took to bring Alana Cook to KC. Similarly, Kayla Sharples was available and looking for a change in scenery, making her available for backup keeper Jordan Silkowitz, and just $15,000 in Allocation Money.

It was a fortuitous overhaul, and while Schult would return to Germany in the offseason, it was proof of concept for Andonovski’s ideal roster makeup. Carducci went to work, acquiring Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena for an undisclosed fee while signing one of the league’s best backups in Laurel Ivory. 

Fruitful signings as Lorena is currently the third-best shot stopper in the NWSL, while Ivory has also contributed above average shot stopping in her two regular season appearances. 

Combined with Gabby Robinson, Elizabeth Ball, and Hailie Mace, the Current’s backline has stood tall despite key injuries – including Ball, Robinson, and Cook. Andonovski’s greatest achievement is transforming a squad that allowed 36 and 31 goals against in 2023 and 2024 to a team that has allowed only 10 this season in the midst of nine straight matches without a goal against.  

It’s tempting to point to the backline as the reason for the Current’s defensive record, but the attacking firepower doesn’t hurt either. There are no one-dimensional players in Andonovski’s preferred lineup. 

Temwa Chawinga, the favorite to win back-to-back MVPs, has lit the league on fire since the moment she stepped foot stateside, but that is far from her only note. Chawinga is rangy, leading the league with over five goals added from receiving the ball in transition, but that range also allows her to track back and break up potential attacks as the Current recover their shape. 

Even then, there isn’t a defensive stat where an individual Current player is leading the league. 

Instead, it’s been a well-structured group that has mastered its roles in Andonovski’s forward defending scheme, with no club winning more balls in the middle third this season. Claire Hutton and Lo’eau Labonta are both top 10 in the league in balls won in the middle third, while Hailie Mace sits 7th in interceptions. 

The Current score early, and then make it impossible for their opponents to progress into the attacking third by clogging up the passing lanes. 

The Current have made just two errors leading to shots against this season, while only trailing Utah in tackles won.

All of this to say that the Current is a complete team behind one of the NWSL’s greatest players of all time. 

As the league's young players look at potential paydays in Europe, it’s worth running down exactly how the Current built the roster. 

Because tough decisions will have to be made eventually.

How will they replace Bia's profile next season with Cooper and Chawinga’s extensions hitting the books? What happens when Hutton is ready for a new deal? How does the acquisition of Ally Sentnor affect those plans?

That succession planning is how the Current have been so successful. Two deep at every position, while benefiting from big performances from players that went under the radar previously. It's what has made their form seemingly impervious to the usual ups and downs that come from key injuries.

Taking the roster from last weekend’s Shield clincher into consideration:

5 of the 16 players who took the pitch signed their first professional contracts with the Current – Cooper(out for this match), Hutton, Rodriguez, and Mace all boast USWNT credentials. 

6 of the 16 arrived via free agency, either as an international signing or, in the cases of Ball and Labonta, signed with the club in Utah in 2020 or during the roster’s first stint in KC almost a decade ago.

The remaining 5 were acquired via trades or transfers – with Sentnor, Cook (who is on SEI), and Rocky Rodriguez individually costing over $100,000 in a combination of Allocation Money and Intra-League transfer funds. 

The lasting legacy of this Kansas City Current Shield will be in how quickly they rebuilt their roster in the vein of Vlatko Andonovski, without spending too much of their discretionary funds to acquire players. They quickly moved on from the Camille Ashton era of big swings and heartless player decisions, and instead committed to a close-knit group that understands their role, understands exactly where they stand in the club, and understands how to build without the pull of a “large market”.

They doubled down on youth development, Andonovski committed to starting Hutton and Wheeler from the start of the 2024 season. (Alex Pfeiffer also made a case for herself before her season ending injury derailed her 2024 and 2025 seasons)

How the front office navigates the incoming cap crunch will be dynasty-defining, but for now, it’s been nearly perfect. 

The job isn’t done for this group; it’s been NWSL Cup or bust since day one, but in becoming the quickest to ever win the NWSL Shield, Andonovski has built on a legacy that already included 2 NWSL Championships in Kansas City and an NWSL coach of the year award in Seattle.