Kansas City Current receives Expansion Draft protection from Bay FC and $175,000 in trade

The Kansas City Current have completed a trade with NWSL expansion team Bay FC to receive $175,000 in allocation funds and protection from Bay FC in the upcoming NWSL Expansion Draft December 15. In exchange, Bay FC will receive midfielder Alex Loera, who returns to the area where she was a Honda award winner and NCAA Champion at Santa Clara University.

“Alex is an incredible talent who has helped this club tremendously over the past two seasons,” said general manager Camille Ashton. “This was not an easy decision, but we wish her all the best moving forward.”

Loera was drafted in the fourth round of the 2021 NWSL Draft before finishing out her collegiate career at Santa Clara University, where she earned the Honda Sport Award, the NCAA Tournament defensive MVP and led her team to NCAA National Championship. Joining the Current in 2022 Loera played 30 regular season games across two seasons, with 27 starts. She also started and played all but two minutes of Kansas City’s playoff run through the NWSL playoffs in 2022 and set a club playoff record for the quickest score with her fourth minute tally against OL Reign in the 2022 NWSL Semifinal.

The NWSL Expansion Draft will be held December 15 with the two expansion teams from Bay FC and the Utah Royals choosing players for each teams’ respective rosters. Kansas City is now exempt from any players being selected by Bay FC.