HARRISON, N.J. – The final quarterfinal of this year’s NWSL Playoffs felt like the changing of the guard, in a way. The Portland Thorns, the league’s most successful team, were the underdogs against NJ/NY Gotham FC, the reigning champions who surprised many by winning last season’s championship after a history of being one of the NWSL’s bottom-dwellers. Gotham’s status as the favorites was no surprise this time around, though, and neither was their eventual 2-1 victory in front of a record crowd on Sunday.
That is not to suggest it was not a competitive game. The youth-focused Thorns were methodical, opting to absorb Gotham’s pressure and limit the hosts to 0.83 expected goals from 15 shots, while managing 0.92 expected goals of their own from just six shots. That strategy allowed the visitors to find an equalizer in the 75th minute through Reilyn Turner, just eight minutes after Tierna Davidson broke the deadlock, setting up a high-stakes finish. Gotham pulled this one out, though, in a way the Thorns historically have – relying on the international talent they have begun to hoard.
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The scoresheet for Gotham reads in part like a laundry list of U.S. women’s national team players. Davidson scored the opening goal with Lynn Williams providing the assist, while Rose Lavelle notched the game-winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time. A look at their team sheet only adds to the picture – Emily Sonnett and Yazmeen Ryan started, as did Germany’s Olympic bronze winner Ann-Katrin Berger and Spain’s Women’s World Cup champion Esther Gonzalez. It is the textbook definition of a super team, and it got Gotham over the line on Sunday.
“I think that we did a good job of controlling the game, dominating the game,” Davidson described it post-game. “We knew that chances were coming and that we needed to finish one. Portland’s always dangerous on the transition. You can’t go to sleep, even for a second and so we knew that it was important that we capitalize on the chances that we were getting so to be able to be a part of that and to have Rose do that in stoppage time was so huge for us to get that win, but not have to go to overtime.”
The thing about super teams, though, is that they are masters of the tangibles and intangibles. The ability to navigate a tight game in the dying moments comes down to quality as much as it does belief or as Williams argued, experience.
“You have World Cup winners, Olympic champions, NWSL champions, people who just know what it takes to get over that threshold, get over the line with that,” she said.
Though Gotham’s super team story feels like it developed overnight, their underdog run to the NWSL Championship last year offers a unique foundation for their transformation. Head coach Juan Carlos Amoros is not exactly working with a brand-new team, despite signing four USWNT stars as free agents over the winter. Amoros and company have relied just as much on those who got them to the podium last year – Williams, Gonzales and Ryan were a part of that team, as were starters Nealy Martin and Mandy Freeman. Martin was arguably Gotham’s best player in midfield, too, while Freeman, who has played for the club since 2017 when they were still known as Sky Blue FC, earned a starting role during the playoff push after years of service.
Gotham’s roster is, at first glance, a mix of superstars and unsung league heroes but the winners’ medals do a lot of the talking. It makes for a particularly competitive environment on the training ground, which Williams likened to competing for the national team.
“There’s always going to be a pressure of showing up every single day, knowing somebody’s coming to push you to be better and that’s what we’ve brought in here,” she said. “Knowing that you have a competition here every single day at the training pitch but also you’re just trying to be your best person.”
Gotham’s assembly of champions has undoubtedly been their greatest asset – and not only because of the intangibles. They arguably have the NWSL’s deepest bench, boasting an ability to survive any absence, or several. Their spot in the semifinals of the playoffs comes after Gotham were finalists in this year’s NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and punched their ticket to the Concacaf W Champions Cup semifinals next May, with Amoros rotating through his options to achieve that success. The Summer Cup in particular was a showcase for Gotham’s dept – the bulk of the tournament was played during the Olympics, during which seven players came home with a medal, while that strategy has also been crucial as Gotham boast the longest unbeaten run in league play of any of the semifinalists.
“For us here at Gotham, the keys are that we treat every player the same and we try to prepare every single one of them to be ready in any responsibility that we think that they can help the team, and then it’s down to them to be ready to step in,” Amoros said. “I’m lost for words for this group because honestly, it’s been crazy, the schedule that we’ve had, the amount of games. … everybody being ready to step in, hep the team perform, win and compete and compete and compete because in football, that’s the only thing that matters. Sometimes, it’s like you can play fantastic but you need to win and they’ve gone over the limit.”
There’s a notable willingness to contribute, regardless of the role assigned to a player on a given day. Sunday’s win was no different – Delanie Sheehan notched the assist to Lavelle’s goal just seven minutes after coming on, a year after scoring the lone goal in Gotham’s playoff quarterfinal win over the North Carolina Courage.
“Because of our jam-packed game schedule and the different types of games we’ve been playing, it’s important to have everybody contribute and step up in big moments and I think that’s what everyone’s done,” Davidson said. “So for everyone to remain bonded, remain ready no matter what the role that they were asked to do was, I think we’ve seen players step up when needed and that’s what this team is all about. I think this is truly a super team because one through 25 is bought in and ready to go whenever needed.”
Williams argues their stacked roster gives them the ultimate competitive advantage, making them as credible a contender to win the NWSL Championship in less than two weeks’ time.
“I think that what is very cool about our team is the depth we have and I think that because we’re so good, we just wear people down over time,” she said. “If one of us is tired, somebody else gets up and goes in there and you’re like, ‘Crap. Now another very talented person is coming in.’ … I think that we still can improve, which is a scary thought, in my personal opinion.”
