Desiree Scott captains record streak with Kansas City Current

Desiree Scott has been the heartbeat this season as captain of the Kansas City Current in the National Women’s Soccer League, recently leading her club to a record 13-match unbeaten streak. The 2022 streak lasted 113 days and vaulted the club to the top of the NWSL standings just one season after the team finished last overall in 2021.

“It’s definitely been exciting, especially after last season and how we have turned it around,” said Scott, who is also a midfielder with Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team. “We are hard to beat defensively and we have that prowess on the attack.”

Scott says that it all started with the 2022 pre-season when the coach Matt Potter got everyone to buy into the game plan and how he just allowed the players to be themselves. As team captain, Scott has had a big part to play in the success of the team both on and off the pitch, with so far a league-best 32 points collected through 19 matches in the 2022 season.

As an Olympic champion, she brings plenty of experience to the squad from an international and club career that has spanned nearly two decades. Kansas City’s run to the top has been especially gratifying considering that, not counting the local leagues back in Winnipeg and a couple of West division titles with Vancouver, Scott has yet to finish first overall in league standings since making her USL W-League debut in 2004 with the Calgary Wildfire.

There was a second-place finish in 2013 with the old Kansas City franchise in the NWSL and she was a USL W-League playoff finalist in 2010 with Vancouver Whitecaps FC. She even reached England’s FA Cup Final in 2015 with Notts County FC. The last time she lifted a club trophy, though, would have been the Manitoba Cup amateur provincial title back in her hometown of Winnipeg.

This year, captain Scott has played more NWSL minutes than any other Canadian outfield player in the league. From 30 May through 11 September, the club didn’t lose a game, compiling a record of nine wins and four losses. She started 10 of those matches, only missing three wins in July when she was away with Canada at the 2022 Concacaf W Championship.

“We just kept winning, but we were taking it one game at a time,” said Scott. “We are just relentless. We have a team that can go out and win on any day and we have that unwavering belief.”

Scott and the Kansas City Current will close out their 2022 schedule on 1 October on the road against Racing Louisville, with still an outstanding home match against second-place Portland Thorns FC on Sunday 18 September. The top-six teams in the league make the October playoffs with the NWSL Championship Final scheduled for Sunday 29 October.

“We are just taking it one match at a time and trying to be better every day,” said Scott.