SAN DIEGO, Calif. – A new champion was crowned on Saturday night as NJ/NY Gotham FC earned a NWSL Championship trophy following a worst-to-first campaign from last year to now. Gotham produced a 2-1 win as it relied on goals from forwards Lynn Williams and Esther González to best a Reign side that got on the scoresheet via midfielder Rose Lavelle in the first half.
The match was hampered after just five minutes as an injury to Reign’s Rapinoe saw her exit forced, writing an unfortunate end to the NWSL icon’s career. Replacing Rapinoe was forward Bethany Balcer, who jumped in and attempted to adapt to the circumstances straight away.
The first opportunity of the night came in the 21st minute when a cross into the box from Gotham defender Bruninha was headed to the opposite side of the area by a Reign defender where Gotham forward Lynn Williams was waiting. Williams was able to collect the ball and get a shot away that sailed toward the far post, but she could not get over it enough to direct it into the back of goal.
However, Gotham did not have to wait much longer for the night’s opening goal, and it came through Williams again as she tapped home a Midge Purce cross to send her team ahead midway through the first half. In the 25th minute, Purce was sent down the right side of the field into space, and as she worked her way toward the endline she was able to pull a cross back and pick out Williams in the middle of the box. From there, Williams pushed an effort past Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey and in. The goal is Williams’s first playoff goal since the 2016 NWSL Championship and her first playoff goal scored in regulation time. In addition, the assist was Purce’s first in the NWSL Playoffs.
Four minutes later, though, the Reign found themselves level again as Rose Lavelle got in behind the Gotham defense and buried a chance past Gotham goalkeeper Mandy Haught to reset the match and even the score at one-all. Lavelle had been played clean through the Gotham defense, leaving her in a 1-on-1 with Haught in goal. Though the shotstopper did all she could to get back, Lavelle still squeezed a shot around her and in.
Another big chance in the first half came by way of Gotham midfielder Delanie Sheehan, who rattled the bar with a strong effort in the 38th minute after a loose ball had yet to be fully cleared away in the Reign penalty area. An initial chance for Williams, the forward could not get enough on her shot to get it through the Reign defense, but the ball bounced around the penalty area and eventually fell into Sheehan’s path. With a venomous right-footed effort, Sheehan ripped the ball off the underside of the crossbar and back into play before it was eventually cleared.
Gotham would continue to knock on the Reign’s door before the halftime break, and in the second minute of first-half stoppage time Gotham forward Esther González put her team in front. Midge Purce was on corner kick duty where she delivered a ball into the middle of the box where Esther was in position to meet it. Guiding her headed effort past Dickey, the Spaniard restored her team’s lead just ahead of the interval.
Into the second half, the Reign came close to finding a second goal on the night and a second equalizer as forward Veronica Latsko was played through on goal by Lavelle. Lavelle, who had done brilliantly to spin out of trouble just inside her own half, unleashed Latsko down the right side with a powerful through ball on the ground in between Gotham defenders. Latsko then latched onto the pass and approached goal, but her hesitation in picking a direction allowed Haught to get big and push Latsko’s effort away to preserve the lead.
Then, just as the fulltime whistle was looming, a dramatic ending saw Gotham goalkeeper Mandy Haught sent off for handling the ball outside the box as Reign attacker Elyse Bennett came sprinting toward a pass over the top. Haught had attempted to cut off the pass early, but in doing so it was ruled that she handled the ball outside the box and so after VAR review she was sent off and Gotham had to finish the match with 10 players.
The Reign were then awarded a free kick on the edge of the box with Gotham midfielder Nealy Martin stepping into goal for her side in the closing moments. Lavelle stepped up to take, but her effort clattered off the wall and was eventually cleared away, putting an end to the Reign’s opportunities in front of goal.
After 12 minutes of total added time played, the fulltime whistle sounded and Gotham FC won its first-ever NWSL Championship after finishing bottom of the league last season.