On Saturday evening, Gotham FC celebrated their second NWSL Championship in San Jose’s Pay Pal Park after a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit.
When I first saw the playoff bracket for 2025 I joked “are Gotham going to do it again?” By “again” I meant placing last amongst the playoff pool only to hoist the trophy at the end of it all. While Gotham wasn’t in danger of slipping out of the playoffs on Decision Day 2025 the way they were on Decision Day 2023, I believe they could have finished the season anywhere between third and eighth. They finished eighth.
Their path was pretty tough to say the least. First the strongest regular season NWSL side in history and 2025 NWSL Shield-winners, the Kansas City Current. Who they looked good against. Second, the 2024 NWSL Champions, the Orlando Pride. Who they looked not so good against.
Gotham had been up and down throughout 2025. Depending on the health of their roster and how many competitions they were participating in, Gotham had periods of looking in form and looking in disarray. Toward the end of the season, though, they picked up a player that seemed to turn their fortunes in a generally more positive direction. After struggling in North Carolina for most of the season, Jaedyn Shaw slotted in pretty seamlessly into Gotham’s system and thrived immediately. Shaw scored in both the quarter and semifinals playing an immense part in the team advancing to the finals in the first place.
On the other hand, the Spirit maintained pretty steady quality throughout the season despite injuries and absences. They took their scariest form in the second half of the season when it seemed like they had finally whittled their extensive injury list down to only those with season-ending injuries or on maternity leave. Additions like Sofia Cantore and Deborah Abiodun just made them more lethal. Their path to the final was a bit more straightforward and the 2024 runners-up seemed ready to take the crown. Even in the post-season, their opponents seemed a little hot and cold.
Finals can be cagey affairs and in some senses the NWSL Championship falls into this category. In terms of good chances created, it wasn’t the best game, but there was still plenty of drama. It became clear within minutes of kickoff that a serious Gotham side had shown up and it would be a tight showdown between two quality, well-coached sides.
The match was fairly even, back and forth, with Gotham coming out on the front foot in the first half and the Spirit seeming to regain some of their footing in the second. Both teams pressed hard. Gotham caused enough disruption to the Spirit’s front five to keep them a step off of each other. The Spirit worked hard to win the ball back in the event of a turnover.
As previously stated though, high quality chances were practically non-existent with both teams seemingly battling it out in the middle of the pitch and trying to capitalize off of mistakes and transitional moments. This visualization did not categorize any of the shots taken in this match to be of “good” or “great” quality (>0.15 xG).
The Rose Lavelle banger came from a great bit of combination play with just the right amount of individual brilliance from an elite player to put Gotham over the line. It was unfortunately preceded by an extended period of time where Hal Hershfelt was on the sideline being evaluated for an ankle injury. The midfielder had been having a great game up until rolling her ankle and it seemed like the medical staff was waffling between taking her out immediately versus waiting for a substitution window. They opted to have her go back on briefly, but it’s during that period during which Lavelle scores. Does Hershfelt get on the end of Bruninha’s cross if she hadn’t just rolled her ankle? Maybe. It’s not a caveat really, and the goal is in no way Hershfelt’s fault, but it’s just an unfortunate situation.
Gotham closed out the match from there and added their second star to the crest. Rose Lavelle won her first NWSL Championship. Mandy Freeman, who has been with Gotham since 2017 but was not rostered for the 2023 NWSL Championship match due to injury, captained the team to victory. Emily Sonnett, who was overlooked in the Defender of the Year likely had the save of the match. Jaedyn Shaw went from coming off the bench for the Courage to being an integral part of an NWSL Championship team. Two rookies in Sarah Schupansky and Lilly Reale started and played excellent games. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Spirit, but there were a lot of incredible storylines that came out of this Gotham win.
It’s “goodbye” to the NWSL for now. There will likely be a lot of offseason news with big players entering free agency and multiple clubs without Head Coaches. For now, we have the USWNT friendlies against Italy coming up next week.
**Images courtesy of NWSL