After nearly a month away from the soccer field, the NWSL returns on Friday — kind of. Gotham FC and the Kansas City Current sit at No. 5 and 6 respectively in the NWSL standings, but these two sides are not playing for points on a table. No, the reigning NWSL Champions from New York/New Jersey take on the 2025 NWSL Shield winners for the 2026 Challenge Cup.
What was once a COVID-19 inspired tournament turned preseason tournament, the Challenge Cup gives both successful NWSL sides a chance to add to their trophy cabinet. Some might see it as an exhibition match, while both sides’ supporters might see it as an opportunity for another title. Look closer and it is a matchup of teams who have lost, gained and sustained their rosters for the second half of the season and long NWSL Playoff runs.
A week prior, both teams grabbed the league’s attention with roster shakeups. Kansas City traded away US international forward/midfielder Ally Sentnor in exchange for $850,000 on June 19. Sentnor’s move left a hole in the Kansas City offensive attack after the forward, who can also slide back and build through the midfield, headed to Angel City FC. The move came after the Current turned around a rough four losses in their first six matches to a two-match winning streak headed into the break.
In Columbus, Ohio, on Friday, both teams trained before Friday night’s matchup at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field. Before stepping onto the field at the home of the 2028 NWSL expansion club, defender Izzy Rodriguez and midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta spoke with the media, but not before giving head coach Chris Armas a grand entrance. Before the pair stepped onto the short press conference stage, they locked hands and lifted their arms up as if they were about to sing “London Bridge is Falling Down.”
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Kansas City did not look worried, and a glance at their roster explains why. While Armas lamented what they lost with the up-and-coming USWNT goalscorer, the conversation shifted to all of the different ways Kansas City can respond.
“Trying to fill that void is always for us exciting, because we know we lose a really good player there, but now other people who’ve done a nice job get opportunity,” Armas told reporters. Armas mentioned Brazilian international Debinha, two-time Golden Boot winner Temwa Chawinga, forward Gianna Paul and Haley Hopkins as potential names to fill the responsibilities left behind. Even LaBonta jokingly jumped into the conversation to add her candidacy. “I kept waiting for it,” joked Armas.
Friday is the first opportunity for the Current to experience life after Sentnor, who started all 12 first-half matches for the Midwest side. Whether it is Debinha, Temwa Chawinga, or even LaBonta filling that role, it is another point of transition for the club in its first year under Armas. Kansas City already weathered the storm of that leadership shakeup, and the Current banked on their existing roster, literally.
On Wednesday, Kansas City rewarded two-time NWSL MVP Chawinga with a High Impact Player contract to retain the star’s play in Kansas City through the 2029 season.
Gotham FC sat in the other locker room in Ohio’s capital city with a different kind of roster shakeup. Two days before Sentnor’s trade, Gotham FC traded away defender Lilly Reale to Boston Legacy FC. The news cycle was quick on the trade because that same day The Athletic reported the addition of Sam Kerr to Gotham FC.
While the Kerr addition is speculation until the transfer window opens, Gotham did make strides to keep the club’s defensive identity intact on Thursday. That is when the NWSL champions announced defender Emily Sonnett’s new contract that keeps the 32-year old on the roster through the 2028 campaign.
“There was obviously a lot of clubs interested in signing Emily, and the fact that she decided to come to us was special,” Amorós told reporters. “But after three years, that she feels that she’s growing and that she’s happy with the people that she’s playing, how is her day-to-day life, and that she wants to carry on and continue the journey with us as a club, I think it’s something that makes us really proud.”
When asked about the rumored addition of Kerr to the club’s roster, Sonnett instead took the opportunity to share how easy it is for Gotham to recruit. It reads not only as a sales pitch for non-Gotham players but as reasons the defender chose to return after two and a half years in Gotham black and cloud white.
“I think Gotham has always done a really good job of attracting talent. I think the talent that we have here currently, it’s unbelievable. That just goes into trainings, that goes into games, being played with the best in the world,” Sonnett told reporters. “I think this club is a destination for someone who wants to win.”
One week after Friday’s Challenge Cup match, both teams begin the second half of the 2026 NWSL Regular Season. There are still 19 days before the transfer window opens. By then, the money Kansas City earned from Sentnor’s move could partially go to a new signing of their own. Gotham could bring on an international star in Kerr to push not only towards a playoff spot but possibly an NWSL Shield. No matter which way either team goes, someone leaves Columbus, Ohio, Friday night with a little more baggage. While it is not three points, it is a nice consolation prize.
