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Recap: Gotham FC Wraps Up West Coast Swing With Draw at Bay |
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Rose Lavelle scored for the second time in three games as Gotham FC played to a 1-1 draw at Bay FC on a sunny Sunday evening in California, extending the visitors’ unbeaten run to eight games across all competitions. It was a seven-point road trip for Gotham FC, which topped San Diego in NWSL action on Sept. 12 before beating Vancouver Rise FC Academy in Concacaf W Champions Cup play this past Tuesday. “The players have gone to the limit,” Amoros said. “We knew it was going to be a difficult challenge, this run of games. We left home almost two weeks ago. … It wasn’t our best game today, but it was another goal, another point, another gritty performance from the players.” Gotham FC (8-6-7, 31 points) maintained its third-place position in the NWSL standings after fourth-place Portland and fifth-place San Diego tied on Saturday. The three teams have identical records, but Amorós’s side has the best goal differential of the bunch – plus-10 to Portland’s plus-six and San Diego’s plus-four. At PayPal Park, Gotham struggled to find its usual connectivity, producing just 0.68 expected goals from four shots on target. But Gotham’s world-class attacking duo of Lavelle and Esther González only needed a brief moment to produce the magic in the 36th minute that put their team ahead in the first half. After Gotham won the ball back in Bay’s half, González registered her first assist by curling a pass into Lavelle’s run to her left, and the U.S. Women’s National Team star slotted home a low finish in off the far post. It was Lavelle’s third goal involvement (two goals, one assist) in the past four NWSL games. Bay’s Rachael Kundananji delivered her own brilliant moment in the 68th minute, scoring from a curling effort 20 yards out to draw back level. In a cagey match, those were the best opportunities for both teams, with Bay FC’s Maddie Moreau coming closest to a winner in the third and final minute of stoppage time. Now Gotham FC returns home to Sports Illustrated Stadium to host the Portland Thorns on Friday. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET, with local coverage on MSG Networks and national streaming on NWSL+. Key Match Points
Gotham FC at Bay FC Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025 8:30 p.m. ET kickoff PayPal Park, San Jose, California Attendance: 11,193 Weather: 80 degrees, sunny
Gotham FC (1, 0 – 1) Bay FC (0, 1 – 1) Scoring Summary Gotham FC 36’ - Rose Lavelle (Esther González) Bay FC 69’ - Rachel Kundananji (Alyssa Malonson) Gotham FC (4-3-3): 30 – Ann-Katrin Berger (GK); 3 – Bruninha, 6 – Emily Sonnett, 27 – Jess Carter, 4 – Lilly Reale (78’ 22 – Mandy Freeman); 7 – Jaelin Howell, 2 – Jaedyn Shaw (64’ 11 – Sarah Schupansky), 16 – Rose Lavelle (C) (78’ 28 – Katie Stengel); 23 – Midge Purce, 9 – Esther González, 10 – Geyse (46’ 18 — Gabi Portilho) Unused substitutes: 1 – Shelby Hogan (GK); 5 — Josefine Hasbo, 19 – Kayla Duran, 21 — Sofia Cook, 34 – Khyah Harper Head coach: Juan Carlos Amorós Bay FC (4-3-3): 29 – Jordan Silkowitz (GK); 3 – Caprice Dydasco, 16 – Sydney Collins, 22 - Brooklyn Courtnall, 20 – Alyssa Malonson; 19 – Dorian Bailey (77’ 15 – Caroline Conti), 7 – Taylor Huff, 23 – Kiki Pickett; 21 – Rachel Hill (89’ 24 – Maddie Moreau), 5 – Karlie Lema (89’ 17 – Catherine Paulson), 12 – Tess Boade (C) (62’ 9 – Racheal Kundananji) Unused substitutes: 32 – Emmie Allen (GK); 11 – Kelli Hubly, 14 – Jamie Shepherd, 41 – Hannah Bebar Head coach: Albertin Montoya Stats Summary GFC / BAY Expected Goals: 0.68 / 0.59 Shots: 12 / 8 Shots on Goal: 4 / 2 Saves: 3 / 1 Corners: 6 / 6 Fouls: 12 / 5 Offside: 2 / 2 Misconduct Summary: Gotham FC 90+3’ Sarah Schupansky (Yellow Card - Reckless Offense) Officials Referee: Brad Jensen Assistant Referee 1: Cameron Siler Assistant Referee 2: Eric Krueger 4th Official: Jamie Padilla VAR: Shawn Tehini AVAR: Brian Marshall Key Quotes HEAD COACH JUAN CARLOS AMORÓS Learnings from the past six weeks, including three games in 12 days on the road They are a special group of players, like they want to get better, they want to win every single game and they are ready to support each other to achieve that. I think it's very important now. We keep growing together. Finally now it looks like she's been with us for a very long time, but Jaedyn Shaw is already doing a great job for the team. And I think everyone is really committed to be the best versions of themselves, really pushing, really going to their limits. I think every player is really pushing and, and for me it's very important to see a group of players that always have that hunger. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, sometimes we draw. But we're always trying to get better, looking at the things, trying to enjoy the moment, but making sure that we can perform better next week. And that's what is getting us to where we are. It's been a tough stretch traveling, although with a lot of away games and, and I think the team is really showing the potential that we have and with little adjustments every week. Hopefully we can keep growing into it.
DEFENDER LILLY REALE
Overall thoughts on the match There's a lot to take out of this one, positive and somewhat negative. There's a lot that we have to build on, and we know that our standard needs to be a little bit higher, especially defensively. Just coming out of this with different takeaways: How can we dominate a little bit more possession wise and then off the ball. How can we trap teams and just eventually regain the ball a little bit better? For us we've been fortunate enough to score a couple goals each game. But coming off of the break, we knew we wanted to strive for playoffs, and to do that we're just going to have to keep pushing here. Obviously happy to come away with a point here, but we want more out of that one. FORWARD ESTHER GONZÁLEZ (translated from Spanish) On her goal contributions stretch the past few games away from home It's really important to me, and I’m happy to do this for the team. I am a player who loves to have the ball at my feet. I consider myself a goal scorer when I have the ball in the box, but I love to help the team in every aspect that I can. It’s more important than ever now that things go our way, and I’m enjoying how well I’ve been playing through the season. It’s been very consistent, so hopefully (I can) bring that on to the playoffs. We know what we need to do as a team, and hopefully we do it well. |