Gotham FC held firm while playing down a player for more than an hour, earning a 0-0 draw on Saturday with visiting rival Washington in front of a season-high 13,860 fans at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
Brazilian forward Geyse was given a red card in the 30th minute after video review of a challenge on Washington defender Gabrielle Carle.
But Gotham FC (5-5-5, 20 points) staved off the danger despite the disadvantage, producing the best opportunity of the second half that nearly saw forward Katie Stengel net the game-winner. The result was Gotham’s sixth shutout of the campaign and extended its unbeaten run to four matches stretching back to the June 13 win at Utah before the league’s summer break.
“Structurally we had to change and adjust,” said Gotham FC captain Mandy Freeman. “We played well and kept the intensity. Playing down is never easy, but we worked together and defended well together, and we had our moments to finish and put the game away, too.”
Recent affairs between Gotham and Washington have bubbled up a budding rivalry between the Eastern seaboard teams situated along Interstate 95. Washington swept the series last year, beating Gotham twice in the regular season and prevailing in a penalty shootout in the semifinals of the NWSL playoffs.
This year, Gotham has taken four of a possible six points from the two meetings with the Spirit, shutting out one of the league’s most talented attacking units for 180 minutes. Star goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who now has five full clean sheets and shared the sixth with reserve Ryan Campbell, made three saves.
“Everyone saw that performance today,” said Gotham FC coach Juan Carlos Amorós. “I’m super proud of every single player. They were outstanding — they rose to the challenge, worked for each other and executed what we asked of them. Even after going down to 10 players again, they fought until the end. It’s a bit bittersweet to only take one point, because if that late chance had gone in, it would’ve been three. From (Berger) to (forward Midge Purce), who was the last to come on, every single player was excellent. The group pushed themselves to their limits, and I can only praise them.”
Gotham FC continues its three-match homestand Sunday, Aug. 17, hosting the Houston Dash at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET, with broadcast coverage on MSG Networks, Paramount+ and NWSL+.
Key Match Points
- Gotham FC played in front of the fourth-largest home crowd in club history (13,860), and second-largest for a regular season match behind 15,058 against San Diego in June 2023.
- This was the third scoreless tie in 32 regular meetings in the series against Washington – and the first since 2021.
- Forward Gabi Portilho made her first appearance for Gotham FC since April 26, also against the Washington Spirit, coming on as a second-half substitute.
- Mandy Freeman tied Sarah Woldmoe’s club record with her 106th appearance on Saturday.
- She tied Christie Pearce for third-most starts in club history (85).
- Ann-Katrin Berger made three saves to become the third Gotham goalkeeper to reach at least 100 career saves with the club, joining Kailen Sheridan and Brittany Cameron (101 total saves).
- She also started her 37th consecutive game, extending her club record for goalkeepers.
- Defender Kayla Duran made her NWSL debut tonight, entering the game as a substitute in the second half.
Gotham FC vs Washington Spirit
Saturday, August 9, 2025
12 p.m. ET kickoff
Sports Illustrated Stadium, Harrison, New Jersey
Attendance: 13,860
Weather: 83 degrees, sunny
Gotham FC (0, 0 – 0)
Washington Spirit (0, 0 – 0)
Gotham FC (4-3-3): 30 – Ann-Katrin Berger (GK); 22 – Mandy Freeman (C), 6 – Emily Sonnett, 27 – Jess Carter (79’ 19 – Kayla Duran), 4 – Lilly Reale; 7 – Jaelin Howell, 11 – Sarah Schupansky (63’ 28 – Katie Stengel), 16 – Rose Lavelle (63’ 14 – Nealy Martin); 34 – Khyah Harper (46’ 18 – Gabi Portilho), 9 – Esther González (88’ 23 – Midge Purce), 10 – Geyse
Unused substitutes: 1 – Shelby Hogan (GK); 3 – Bruninha, 8 – Taryn Torres, 21 – Sofia Cook,
Head coach: Juan Carlos Amorós
Washington Spirit (4-3-3): 1 – Aubrey Kingsbury (GK); 14 – Gabby Carle, 9 – Tara McKeown, 24 – Esme Morgan, 6 – Kate Wiesner (58’ 16 – Courtney Brown); 4 – Rebeca Bernal, 5 – Narumi Miura (71’ 8 – Makenna Morris), 17 – Hal Hershfelt; 19 – Rosemonde Kouassi (46’ 27 – Sofia Cantore), 21 – Gift Monday (58’ 2 – Trinity Rodman), 7 – Croix Bethune (88’ 22 – Heather Stainbrook)
Unused substitutes: 28 – Sandy McIver (GK); 13 – Brittany Ratcliffe, 25 – Kysha Sylla, 26 – Paige Metayer
Head coach: Adrián González
Stats Summary
GFC / WAS
Expected Goals: 0.32 / 0.94
Shots: 9 / 11
Shots on Goal: 4 / 4
Saves: 3 / 4
Corners: 3 / 4
Fouls: 13 / 13
Offside: 1 / 2
Misconduct Summary:
Gotham FC
30’ - 10 – Geyse (Red Card - Violent Conduct)
59’ - 16 – Rose Lavelle (Yellow Card - Time Wasting)
72’ - 9 – Esther González (Yellow Card - Tactical Foul)
90 + 1 - Gotham Bench (Yellow Card - Poor Sportsmanship)
Washington Spirit
11’ - 6 – Kate Wiesner (Yellow Card - Tactical Foul)
61’ - 5 – Narumi Miura (Yellow Card - Tactical Foul)
Officials
Referee: Jaclyn Metz
Assistant Referee 1: Rhett Hammil
Assistant Referee 2: Tom Felice
4th Official: Stephanie MacFarland
VAR: Danielle Chesky
AVAR: Karen Coulson
Key Quotes
HEAD COACH JUAN CARLOS AMORÓS
On Lilly Reale’s passion late in the match and the leadership shown by Gotham’s rookies
She’s a winner. From her first day in training with us last year, we were impressed with how much she wants to win and her willingness to do whatever it takes to help the team. She has the aura of a future captain—whether that’s with us or the national team. She’s a natural leader, demanding of others and of herself, and always ready to step up.
I’m proud you noticed that moment. I could feel at halftime that our team wanted more than just a draw—they wanted to win—and that really showed in the second half. Lilly took that on, just as the rest of them did. Khaya [Harper], Ryan [Campbell] when she came on, and Sarah [Schupansky] are all learning from leaders like Emily [Sonnett], Ann [Katrin-Berger], Rose [Lavelle] and Esther [González]—world-class players who not only know how to play football, but how to win.
That’s the mentality you need. It can’t come only from the senior players; it has to come from the younger ones too. Today we had our ninth debut this season from a player who had never been a professional before. That’s a big number, and it takes time, but everyone is united in this.
DEFENDER MANDY FREEMAN
Initial thoughts on the game
Going into the game, we’ve been working all week on fixing the things we need to fix to be better structurally defensively and really capitalizing on our press and taking those moments and opportunities to get forward. Obviously, we had an issue in the first half with a player getting sent off, so structurally we had to change and adjust. We played well and kept the intensity. Playing down is never easy, but we worked together and defended well together, and we had our moments to finish and put the game away, too.
FORWARD KATIE STENGEL
On the character of the team and still being the aggressor despite being a man down
I think you saw in the first half we were dominating possession a lot, creating a lot of chances, and we looked very promising. The card kind of threw a wrench in the plans but it was nice to see the team rally behind each other and be more organized because there was more reliance on getting in good shape early and then taking our chances offensively. I think it showed a lot of heart and character about our team. Being able to fight, especially in the heat, against a lot of elements, and down a player, I think we could’ve come away with more points, so I think it’s promising.
DEFENDER KAYLA DURAN
On the difficulty of scoring against Washington
We faced adversity at the beginning of the game, going down to 10 people, but I think the big thing was how we stuck to our gameplan. We made it really difficult for some of the best attackers in the league to break us down, so I give credit to our entire team but especially to our back line and our goalkeeper. Washington is a great team and this honestly gives us momentum going into the next few weeks. I’m honored for it to be my first game. It was a crazy game to jump in the middle of. I’m super proud of this team and really grateful to be here.
FORWARD KHYAH HARPER
On bright spots despite the result
I think it shows our grit and intensity on the field. We’re a very hard-working team and we’ll never give up. We really showed that today out on the field. We’re going to learn from this game and move on. It’s just an unfortunate circumstance with the red card. I think we just need to keep the same intensity and mindset going into our next game.
