‘Class, culture, selflessness’: What newly acquired trio of players brings to KC NWSL

If you know much about Kansas City soccer, Thursday morning’s news that KC NWSL was trading away captain Amy Rodriguez, who had been with the team since its earlier incarnation as FC Kansas City, was jarring.

The North Carolina Courage acquired Rodriguez, along with $60,000 in allocation money from Kansas City, in the deal.

In return, KC NWSL welcomed three new players to its roster: forward Kristen Hamilton, midfielder Hailie Mace and goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland.

For a team without a win halfway through its inaugural season, the sacrifice of trading away one great player for three high-quality players capable of making an immediate impact was seen as necessary.

Both Hamilton and Mace have played in all 10 games so far this regular season. Hamilton started in five of them, Mace in two. Hamilton found the back of the net for the first time during the regular season in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the Houston Dash.

Rowland has played in just one game for the Courage this season, but her resume since being drafted by then-FC Kansas City general manager Huw Williams — now her new head coach with KC NWSL — places her “immediately in the mix,” Williams said, as a potential starter at the position. With no injury update available on starting KC keeper Abby Smith, and Rowland available, that day could come Friday against the very Courage from which Rowland was just traded.

“She’s veteran goalkeeper now, and also very mature in her professionalism, too,” Williams said. “What I like about this is that we have brought three very good players to our club, but also three good people, as well. They are going to help the culture, they’re going to help the dynamic and it’s going be fun working with it.”

With 30 appearances in net for the Courage, Rowland also has the fifth most regular-season shutouts in that span — 17. KC has kept just one clean sheet this season, in a 0-0 draw against Racing Louisville FC.

Since being drafted in 2014, Hamilton, 29, has won three NWSL championships, all in North Carolina. She’d scored 16 goals for the Courage since 2017, and Courage coach Paul Riley said both Hamilton and Rowland were key factors in the club winning three NWSL titles and three NWSL Shields.

“They are the epitome of what class, culture and selflessness brings to a team,” Riley said in a statement. “Yes, they have won a lot, but I will remember the amazing contribution they made to my life. The privilege of coaching players of this ability and commitment is beyond anything you can imagine. Their development and maturity has been awesome to watch.”

Hamilton, whom Williams said he wanted to draft in 2014, will replace Rodriguez up top immediately.

Williams also hopes the three newcomers bring some winning culture and philosophy with them to Kansas City.

“I think she’s going to mesh fantastic with all them,” Williams said of Hamilton playing with his other forwards. “I watched her not just this season, but for many years in this league.”

Mace, 24, has scored two goals this season and has shown throughout her career that she can be an impact player on offense. She scored 15 goals and tallied 33 points as a forward with UCLA, but KC’s more pressing need could be on the back line.

Though Mace has played forward and is currently listed as a midfielder, she made brief appearances on defense in 2018 with the U.S. Women’s National Team. Her versatility will be key for KC; Williams called her a player with “a ton of potential, a ton of promise,” and is not ready to make a decision about which position she’ll land in here just yet.

“Open competition, open competition in any position for us,” he said. “We got some good, very good players here. And we’ve just added another very good player that can compete as a defender, compete as a midfield player and compete as a forward. So we’re excited to have her on board.”

All three new KC players will be available for Friday night’s home match against their old team. Williams declined to indicate whether or not they’ll play, but each was present at practice and a team film session on Thursday.

Williams said the “vibe of practice was lively,” and the newcomers were already getting engaged in the film room.

The timing of the trade and then an immediate matchup between the two teams will be difficult because of the emotional aspects of losing a cornerstone player like Rodriguez.

Williams was trying to keep the focus on the soccer.

“Our focus is on the game model, the game plan, and how the new players — if they play — how they fit into that,” he said. “We can’t control the emotion of the players, but they’ll handle it fine.”