Gotham rides series of magic moments to win NWSL Championship

SAN JOSE, California – The week leading up to Saturday NVSL The championship was dominated by concerns about the future Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodmanand the league's inability to retain its biggest star due to salary cap restrictions.

But as the final minutes ticked by on Saturday at PayPal Park, Gotham FC midfielder Rose Lavelle was the star of the moment, the player who found that “magic,” as head coach Juan Carlos Amoros called it the day before, 1-0 victory over Washington.

Shining when it mattered helped Gotham cruise through another unlikely playoff run and capture its second championship in three seasons.

“We worked so hard for this moment,” Amoros said. “You can become a champion the moment the referee blows the whistle. Until that moment you are trying to become a champion, and then you are a champion forever.”

Lavelle's trademark left foot struck the net in the 80th minute, in one of the rare moments of transition in a match that was largely deadlocked in midfield. Gotham's victory completed a storybook playoff run and left the stable and consistent Spirit in second place for the second year in a row.

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Gotham winning the championship is the epitome of knockout football and the right moment to survive and grow. Gotham has done just that throughout the playoffs, occasionally escaping a victory over the record holder. Kansas City Turk in the final seconds of extra time before eliminating the defending champions Orlando Pride In stoppage time they struck their only shot on target in that semi-final.

On Saturday, a series of unfortunate events turned the Spirit around and benefited Gotham. Moments before Lavelle's goal, Spirit's midfielder Hal Hershfelt went down with an injury, and Washington played the player for a few minutes while Hershfelt was treated on the sideline. She eventually returned to the field to return the Spirit to the 11 players as head coach Adrian Gonzalez prepared a replacement, but the match continued with the Gotham defender Bruninha broke down the left flank and made an 18-yard pass to Lavelle in the central zone, which Hershfelt commanded throughout the match.

Hershfelt and Croix Bethune patrolled Washington's midfield, but Lavelle, SawAnd Jaelin Howell canceled the Spirit's attempt to control the central regions. Gotham was neither flashy nor spectacular, but they succeeded again. It wasn't luck, and in truth, it wasn't real magic—not in some elusive Hocus Pocus sense.

The “underdog” label for this Gotham team has always been superficial. This is the team that won the Concacaf title earlier this year, the team that fought its way to the top of the league a year ago, a team filled with stars from Lavelle to Shaw and Esther Gonzalez.

But this is also a team that has been way behind throughout the year, so it has had to take the hard road to this title.

Gotham's success is also ironic: the team that Amoros built to be interchangeable and fluid was carried into the playoffs largely by its stars.

“We know we have a lot of talent, and so I think we've really leaned on that in this playoff series, and I think that's what we've seen,” Lavelle said Saturday, sitting on the podium for the first time in the NWSL Championship winner's jersey. “That’s what ultimately helped us win.”

Shaw had a goal and an assist in the quarter-final win over top-seeded Current and then the semi-final winner over 2024 champion Orlando Pride. On Saturday, Lavelle's left foot played a decisive role.

Having won two championships in three years and the Concacaf crown, Gotham has mastered the art of knockout football.

And that's the beauty of the NWSL and the playoff system, the unpredictable “superpower” commissioner Jessica Berman and the executives rave about. No one can be fooled into thinking Gotham is the best team of the NWSL season. Kansas City set records in points and wins, capturing the Shield with an impressive 21 points.

But Gotham earned its trophy by defeating a Kansas City team that followed last year's champions.

“Once we really failed to win the Shield, to be honest, in America you either win the Shield or you make the play-offs – there is no middle ground,” Amoros said. “You have to be confident that you will get to this place, and we knew that when we got to this place, we knew how to win together.”

The biggest story in the NWSL was and remains Rodman and its future. Rodman, however, was largely a non-factor during the 30-plus minutes she spent off the bench Saturday due to limitations from the MCL sprain she suffered last month. For the second year in a row, the USWNT star was defeated in the NWSL Championship loss.

After the match, she sat briefly on the bench before walking slowly across the field to hug her boyfriend, tennis star Ben Shelton. It is unknown whether this was Rodman's last walk through an NWSL stadium for the foreseeable future. at an NWSL stadium for the foreseeable future is unknown. After the match, she stated that the result, as heartbreaking as it was, would not influence her decision about her future. “Every team loses,” Rodman said.

Saturday, however, was all about the Gotham team, which throughout November continued to find a way to win even when it was outplayed. This is the sweet uncertainty of sports, and especially the NWSL, at its finest.

Sports and championships are moments. These are moments of brilliance for one team and failure for another. Gotham was waiting for “high highs and low lows,” as Lavelle described it Friday.

A day later, one moment of Lavelle's genius brought an incredible thrill.