#NWSL awards: My votes and my arguments. 🗳️ www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Hailie Mace on her way out is tough for the Current. She was a big part of the backline, and her versatility between fullback and CB helped cover injuries for a large swath of the middle season. Not only for the team but the city. She really broke out in 2022 and mostly built on that each year.

Now if you wanna talk about players carrying coaches to places... this might be a fun conversation lol

I don't think we'd be having some of the convos on NWSL coach of the year if the timing of how the EOY Awards voting wasn't garbage. Votes should've been done before the first playoff game kicked off. We wouldn't be having some of these conversations a week ago.

Most of the (genuine) arguments I'm receiving on this hinge on a read of roster quality in KC and Louisville that I don't think holds up. Obviously KC & Spirit have stronger & deeper squads than Louisville, but the size of the gap required for that argument to work don't exist in the NWSL.

Hate to go all "we have food at home" but it's Vlatko by a mile, & González 2nd. KC had the best reg. season in NWSL history. A 21-pt gap atop the table is Lyonnes-in-France dominance, & KC's roster is not 21 points better than the rest. Yanez showed real future CotY potential, but again: future.

#NWSL awards season shenanigans is an annual tradition, and the Midfielder of the Year shortlist having NEITHER Taylor Flint NOR Sam Coffey is egregious, baffling stuff.

Stunned Taylor Flint wasn't a finalist for Midfielder of the year.

an all time Taylor Flint snub in the NWSL Midfielder of the Year ballot

BREAKING: The NWSL is awarding its 17th franchise to Atlanta and will join the league for a record expansion fee of $165 million, sources tell The Athletic. Details: www.nytimes.com/athletic/679...

Press conferences are terrible for getting full quotes and context out quickly. So here's the whole of what Vlatko Andonovski had to say about Bia playing through injury today:

Andonovski said Bia played through a sprained MCL. She went 100 minutes. "Nobody was going to stop her [from playing]" #KCBaby

Vlatko said that yesterday they were testing Temwa and they could see that it wasn't going to be good to go. They were worried it would lead to a much more significant injury. #KCBaby

Andonovski called it a game of margins and small moments that separated two good teams. #KCBaby

Katie Stengel 2023 Katie Stengel 2025 #NWSL

A lot will be said and written about this team. Some from myself too. The Current were far and away the better team in the NWSL. Maybe not today. But that's the playoffs. Can't show up and get bounced. Despite the absences, they didn't quite look like themselves throughout today. Credit to Gotham.

FINAL. Gotham win 2-1.

GOTHAM GOAL. 2-1. OH WOW. SECONDS LEFT FOR KC

Bia seems like she's done for the day. Bayley Feist readying to come on. #KCBaby

HT of Extra Time. 1-1 still. #KCBaby

Bia nearly scores in extra time. Great save from Berger. Big Chance there again but Sentnor's shot skies inside the box. #KCBaby

Take a bathroom/coffee/hot chocolate break. We have 30 more minutes of soccer to go. Stunning end. 1-1. Extra Time coming. #KCBaby

AKB SLIPS. WHEELER WRONG FOOTS HER AND SNEAKS IT IN THE NEAR POST. #KCBaby

OH MY GOD ELLIE WHEELER! 1-1

Eight minutes of stoppage time. If Gotham keeps it up, we might end up at 100 minutes played. #KCBaby

Gotham will ensure as little soccer is played until the end of this game. Think the ball has been in play for 90 seconds in the last ten minutes. Berger has mysteriously gone down after a shot wide. #KCBaby

Midge Purce gets cracked in the head with a long ball, ref stops play rightfully so. But the CPKC crowd is not happy...unrightfully so. #KCBaby

Elizabeth Ball is down. Haley Hopkins came in already for Nichelle Prince. It seems like Ball may be unable to continue. So Wheeler is coming in and Mace switching to CB. #KCBaby

GOAL. Jaedyn Shaw puts Gotham in front. She turned and beat Sharples and placed her shot very well past Lorena. Current on the ropes. 1-0 Gotham.

Great chance for the Current. Zero clue why Deb came all the way to that spot that Sentnor was in. Unnecessariliy brings the defender right into Sentnor's path to shoot. #KCBaby

LaBonta is down hurt. Didn't see what happened. But she's slow to get up. #KCBaby

Hutton has made a few mistakes on the ball today when the Current are open. This one leads to a foul and free kick in a dangerous spot. #KCBaby #KCvGFC

Second half underway. Current attacking into the wind this time. #KCBaby

Good save from Lorena on Purce. Hutton lost the ball in a spot that the Current was wide open defensively. Huge counter attack for the Current down the other way. Prince goes at AKB 1v1 but shoots streaight at her. AKB down now after she and Prince collide on the rebound. #KCBaby

Oh my Ally Sentnor had that headed top corner. What a save from Berger. #KCBaby

So unlucky for the Current, as Jess Carter's intervention stops what would've been an enormous counterattack. Carter took that HARD off the head though and she's down receiving treatment. #KCBaby

Steve Spagnula doing the KC Baby Chant today. We're underway from a very, very cold CPKC Stadium. Wind chill making things worse. #KCBaby

It's quite cold. Would've been a lovely game Friday night or yesterday. But here we are on the other extreme for a nationally televised game again. No Temwa, No Cooper. Bia starts. Rest is normal for the Current. Kickoff coming closer to 11:45. #KCBaby

She was never directly asked about, so...Vlatko never gave up the info. But yeah...certainly surprising.

No Michelle Cooper tomorrow is a big loss for the Current. But, Temwa listed as questionable...Bia not on injury report a positive. #KCBaby

Unreal run. Tear jerker penalty for Luana....Orlando is a tough out (albeit, Seattle flat out stunk).

Lu Barnes getting the hook early in a playoff game? Chat GPT had some interesting suggestions.

INCREDIBLE ending in Charlotte. What a goal from Mercau.

Horrendous ankle injury for Perea.

The Kansas City Current announce a contract extension with captain, "Celly Queen,"Lo LaBonta. She's wearing teal through 2028.

"Reasonable people can disagree on this topic, but there’s no need to go to bullying or name calling because it doesn’t set a good example for anyone," Elizabeth Eddy says on Fox News this morning, after a week of inciting targeted transphobic and racist attacks on fellow NWSL players.

INBOX: @nwslplayers.bsky.social statement "condemning attacks on players."

Gabrielle Robinson was the only starter in the portion of training open to media today for KC Current. First session back after a Sunday game unsurprisingly light. Vlatko considers both Bia and Temwa "day to day." #KCBaby

See you Sunday! 11:30 a.m. central for Current/Gotham.

I am begging for the NWSL Playoff Schedule to be released in the next 30 minutes. Please.