Jeff Carlisle
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Gotham FC claimed the NWSL Championship on Saturday, defeating the Washington Spirit 1-0.
Gotham midfielder Rose Lavelle scored the winner in the 80th minute in front of an announced sellout crowd of 18,000 at PayPal Park. Substitute Bruninha’s centering feed across the top of the box set up the goal for Lavelle, who was named the game’s MVP.
It was the second goal in an NWSL final for Lavelle, who also scored while playing for the Seattle Reign in their 2-1 loss to Gotham in 2023.
– Gotham rides series of magic moments to win NWSL Championship
It was Gotham’s second title in three years under coach Juan Carlos Amorós, whose side made history as the first eighth seed to win the championship. Gotham enjoyed a storybook run to the title, eliminating the top-seeded Kansas City Current and the Orlando Pride before defeating the Spirit.
“We’ve had a rollercoaster of a year so I think to get this is the icing on the cake,” Lavelle told ESPN’s “Futbol W.”
“We know that we underperformed during the season. But with that being said, we know the talent that we have in the locker room, and we knew when we bring our best, the sky’s the limit. We can do so much with this group. So, I think we really leaned on that during this playoff run, and it worked out.
“We have such a special group, and I’m so excited to be able to win this with them.”
“I think it’s a dream come true,” said Amorós, who became the third manager in league history with multiple NWSL titles. “That’s what we work so hard for. At the end of the day, I’m just a guy who loves football, from a neighborhood in Madrid, and I’m here celebrating with some of the best players in the world.
“Winning a second championship in, for me, the best league on the planet, it is a dream come true.”
The Spirit lost in the final for the second year in a row after falling to the Orland Pride 1-0 last season.
Much of the pregame chatter Saturday focused on the status of Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, who has been dealing with an MCL sprain in her right knee for the past month. Though Rodman wasn’t listed on the pregame injury report, she once again didn’t start the match. She came on in the 56th minute, but didn’t have much of an impact on the game, and was clearly lacking some of her trademark explosiveness.
After not creating many chances in their semifinal victory over Orlando, Gotham were the aggressor at the start of Saturday’s match, pressing Washington deep in its own half. Gotham forward Jaedyn Shaw seemed determined to shoot whenever possible, including right after the kickoff. That attempt had Spirit keeper Aubrey Kingsbury scrambling for a moment, but it went wide, and neither of Shaw’s other two attempts in the first 10 minutes forced Kingsbury into a difficult save.
Though Washington forward Rosemonde Kouassi threatened on a couple of occasions in the early going, the match settled into a stalemate for the remainder of the half, one characterized by an increasing level of physical play.
Gotham appeared to have an opening late in the half when Mandy Freeman fired a cross that Shaw knocked down and Esther González collected, but Spirit defender Tara McKeown got a piece of the ensuing shot, allowing Kingsbury to easily make the save.
Kouassi nearly forced a breakthrough in the 55th minute. Kouassi connected with Croix Bethune, who laid it off for Leicy Santos, but Gotham defender Emily Sonnett delivered a vital block on the subsequent shot.
“They had a great play. They kind of opened up a little bit in the second half and I felt that was the best way to take almost every angle away and [it was a] thank God it worked kind of thing,” Sonnett said. “I think that there were a few teammates around to help just in case, but yeah, I kind of just pulled that one out, which I’m thankful it worked out.”
Kouassi was having an impact in other ways. After Lilly Reale was called for a yellow card following a foul on Kouassi late in the first half, Kouassi continued to attack the reigning NWSL Rookie of the Year. She forced Reale into another foul in the 59th minute, and Amorós, sensing Reale was in danger of getting sent off, subbed her out for Bruninha in the 63rd minute.
The move proved a masterstroke for the Gotham manager because it limited Kouassi’s influence, and Bruninha’s pass helped set up the winner.
Gotham scored soon after Spirit defensive midfielder Hal Hershfelt returned to the field after spending several minutes on the sidelines receiving treatment for a leg injury. Hershfelt, who appeared to be favoring the injury, was substituted immediately after the goal.
Washington did what it could to find an equalizer, but Gotham’s defense, marshalled superbly by Sonnett and Jessica Carter, helped the club claim the title.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
