KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Current has a depleted roster early in the season.
Because of injury, the Current have been without several key players and some big-name offseason signees for the first two matches of the season. Many will likely miss this upcoming road trip to the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday.
U.S. Women’s National Team member Sam Mewis is using 2023 to recover from a right knee injury, and Claire Lavogez is also recovering from a right knee injury suffered late in the 2022 season.
Defenders Desi Scott and Swedish international Hanna Glas are recovering from knee injuries while midfielders Kristen Hamilton (right knee) and Morgan Gautrat (left calf) are working to get back to the pitch as well.
The biggest recent blow is the sidelining of midfielder Alex Loera, which will put her out for at least a couple of weeks.
“We could have held off or addressed now. We chose to address it now,” head coach Matt Potter said.
“That gives her the timeline to work to get back to be able to contribute, and that’s what we wanted to do. She made the decision along with the leadership of the club, and now is the time for her to kind of put herself in a place where she’ll feel even better than she’s shown already.
“But yeah, we’re gonna be out without her for a while, but that’s OK. We have others that we believe in.”
Defender Elizabeth Ball injured her left hamstring in the first match of the season against the North Carolina Courage but was seen at practice training.
Free agent signee Vanessa DiBernardo (right knee) and defender Mallory Weber (right knee) were also part of practice Wednesday. World-renowned striker Debinha played for the last 21 minutes of the Current’s last game against Portland Thorns FC.
Potter said DiBernardo and Debinha are “very likely” to be in the lineup going forward.
“They not only compete, they not only contribute but they wanna be the best at it all day every day,” Potter said about Debinha and DiBernardo.
“The biggest compliment probably is that they make others around them better, and that’s because the way they drive the energy, they lift people up, they play the game with such joy and enthusiasm,” Potter said. “We’re very fortunate to have them and it’s good to see them out here on a more consistent basis.”
Weber is also “really close” to being back on the pitch after tearing her ACL last season.
“She’s feeling good about herself,” the Current’s coach said.
“Really excited for her because she’ll give us another explosive player and aggressive player. Our team will be better for it when she’s up for selection.”
The Current play the Red Stars at 7 p.m. Saturday and continue their road trip to face the Houston Dash in the first NWSL 2023 Challenge Cup match of the year at 6:30 p.m. April 19.
