KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Current traded midfielder Alex Loera on Wednesday to NWSL expansion side Bay FC, which enters the league next year.
In exchange, the Current received protection from Bay FC in the upcoming NWSL Expansion Draft, which takes place Dec. 15, and $175,000 in allocation money.
Loera, 24, a fourth-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft, won an NCAA championship as well as the Honda Award as college soccer’s top women’s player during her career at Santa Clara University in the Bay Area, where she now returns.
“Alex is an incredible talent who has helped this club tremendously over the past two seasons,” Current General Manager Camille Ashton said in a statement. “This was not an easy decision, but we wish her all the best moving forward.”
Loera, who signed a new three-year contract in January, appeared in 30 matches, including 27 starts, for the Current during the last two seasons.
In 2022, she had three assists in 20 matches, including 18 starts, then logged all but two minutes in the NWSL playoffs as the club reached the NWSL Championship Game.
Loera finished with a career-high four assists in 10 games, nine starts, in 2023.
The Utah Royals also will join the NWSL next year, so the Current could still lose a player in the Expansion Draft.
The Current, who finished as NWSL runners-up in 2022, missed the playoffs in 2023, but hope for better luck under new coach Vlatko Andonovski as they move into CPKC Stadium in 2024.
—
