This was always going to be a tough tournament for Gotham FC. The National Women's Soccer League's preseason only just started, putting the Bats at a severe disadvantage over teams such as the heavily-favored Arsenal WFC, who were 14 games into their season as the inaugural FIFA Women's Champion Cup got underway.
But a rusty squad that couldn't score against Corinthians last Wednesday in the semifinal looked lethal against Morocco's AS FAR (full name: Association Sportive des Forces Armées Royales), as they cruised to a 4-0 win in the Third Place match. This despite Gotham still being without their leading goalscorer from last season, former Ballon d'Or nominee Esther González, who is away on parental leave.
The glass-half-full crowd will look at this as a preseason warmup that came with a $200,000 purse, rather than a missed opportunity to face one of Europe's best squads in a quest to lift a third trophy inside of 12 months and go home with $2.3 million, the highest payout on the planet for the women's game.
Here are three thoughts about Gotham's first win of 2026.
Hudson River Blue Staff
Rested and rotated
Head Coach Juan Carlos Amorós made meaningful changes to the Starting XI that lost to Corinthians mid-week, with Khyah Harper at striker, Sofia Cook spearheading the midfield, and defender Kayla Duran earning her first start since November 2, 2025. Rose Lavelle was rested after suffering a head injury in the Corinthians loss, and Gabi Portilho spent the game on the bench.
Harper opened the scoring in the 27th minute with an incredible individual effort. The attacker carried the ball up the left flank, cut into the box, and then sent the ball past goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi. It was just her second goal for the Bats since joining the team at the start of the 2025 season from the University of Minnesota, where she scored 17 goals in her final season for the Gophers. Could Harper see more playing time in 2026? The 23-year-old spent most of the 2025 NWSL season on the bench, with four of her six starts coming in non-league games.
Midfielder Savannah McCaskill followed up 11 minutes later with her first goal for Gotham since re-joining the club on January 8. The 29-year-old veteran got her start at Gotham way back in 2018, when the organization was known as Sky Blue FC, and returned after becoming a reliable starter at Angel City FC, Chicago Stars, Racing Louisville, and San Diego Wave.
Jaedyn Shaw made it 3-0 when she converted a penalty in the 43rd minute, then Midge Purce sealed the 4-0 win with her 48th-minute goal to start the second half. By then, the outcome wasn't in doubt: A team that couldn't string together a coherent attack on Wednesday were now scoring at will.
Andrew Leigh
Debuts for Andrea Kitahata, Talia Sommer
After the fourth goal, the game became: Who will Amorós bring on to rotate his squad? Gotham added four promising young players so far this offseason: Attacker Jordynn Dudley from Florida State, attacker Andrea Kitahata from Stanford University, midfielder Talia Sommer from Butler University, and goalkeeper Teagan Wy from the University of California.
All four were available on the bench. Kitahata came on in the 61st minute, replacing Purce in the attack. Then Sommer came on in the 76th minute, replacing Mandy Freeman at right-back. Gotham have a strong track record of identifying and developing young talent: Just look at 2023 NWSL Rookie of the Year Jenna Nighswonger, or 2025 NWSL Rookie of the Year Lilly Reale. Could one of these four emerge as a leading candidate in 2026?
To do that, they'll need to find a way to see minutes in a stacked squad without any real weaknesses. But the season is long, and injuries happen — file away these four names for future reference.
Megha Gupta
$200,000 in prize money
Gotham will fly home with third-place medals and $200,000 in prize money. It's not a bad way to kick off the 2026 preseason.
To be sure, a FIFA trophy and the $2.3 winner's purse would be preferable, but it's not easy to enter a tournament from a cold start, and without your leading striker. Gotham should be happy that there were no major injuries to the squad (although we're still waiting to hear a full assessment of Lavelle's condition), that two new signings made the transition from placing NCAA Division I soccer to making runs at Emirates Stadium in a competitive match, and that the vibes at the final whistle were good.
Besides, the $200,000 awarded to both Gotham and AS FAR looks to be significantly higher than the estimated $150,000 that the players reportedly earned for winning the 2025 NWSL Championship.
