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‘Next woman up’ mentality finds KC Current operating at high level in spite of absences

When the Kansas City Current placed star midfielder and prized offseason acquisition Sam Mewis on the National Women’s Soccer League’s season-ending injury list late last week, the rest of the team wasn’t shaken.

Her teammates have been operating under a “next woman up” mentality for most of the 2022 season anyway, and that’s helped soften the realization that Mewis, a standout internationally with the U.S. Women’s National Team, won’t suit up in teal and red at all this year.

One of the game’s best players, Mewis hadn’t played a minute since the first half of the Current’s Challenge Cup match against the Chicago Red Stars in late March. Two appearances for a total of 45 minutes will be the sum of her 2022 NWSL stats as she rehabilitates from what the team termed a “longstanding” and “progressive” right-leg injury.

Mewis made a brief stint in full training early this summer, seemingly taking a small step forward and stirring at least faint hope that she might yet take the field for NWSL games in ‘22. But then she apparently took a step backward when she was not at the team’s full practice the day before her placement on the league’s injured list.

On that day, Current coach Matt Potter said Mewis was “continuing to do what she needs to do to try and get to a place where she does what she does best. That’s guided by medical (advice), and her.”

Regardless of when the decision to shelve Mewis for the year was made, she hadn’t been a part of the game-day picture in the Current’s midfield for quite some time. And if there’s a silver lining here, her absence has presented an opportunity for other midfielders to flourish with veteran Desiree Scott anchoring the midfield behind them.

“I think the mentality of the whole group is to lift each other up,” Potter said as the team prepared for Saturday’s road trip to North Carolina to take on the NC Courage (game time: 7 p.m. Central). “So when a player can or can’t be out there on the field, then people accept the responsibility to carry the cause for the group.”

That next-woman-up mentality has been taken to heart this season. From throwing Elyse Bennett into a starting role early into her pro career, to others playing out of position initially to cover for the club’s injuries, the Current (6-4-4) have been practicing this philosophy from the start.

“Everybody brings something different, but our game plan is to bring the game to the opponent,” defender Elizabeth Ball said. “It’s nice knowing if somebody’s going to be gone, whoever’s filling in that spot is going to bring the exact same intensity — just a different skill-set.”

Ball has been a stalwart on the Current backline, anchoring the middle when healthy. She’s had to play all over the field throughout her career, but now she seems to have found a home in that role.

The cast of players alongside her has changed multiple times over the course of the season. But Ball said it doesn’t matter who’s back there with her: Potter’s principles are ingrained and everyone understands the approach.

“We could have Victoria Pickett back there and she’d know exactly what we’re supposed to do,” Ball said.

Alex Loera is a good example of this versatility. She has played back and forth between the back and as the midfield anchor in recent weeks. Potter praised her return to play last week, when she lined up in the back three during a 2-1 win at San Diego.

“I think you’ve seen her evolve into different roles and different places,” Potter said. “That’s the versatility that she has this first year. Similarly to E-Ball, she embraces and she takes the challenge on, and clearly she’s getting a lot more right than she is wrong.”