It’s beginning to feel a lot like 2023.
Earlier this afternoon, Gotham FC logged their second consecutive upset win in the NWSL Playoffs by beating Orlando Pride 1-0 at Inter&Co Stadium behind a stoppage-time goal by Jaedyn Shaw. Gotham were coming off a surprise 2-1 road win over league-best Kansas City Current last Sunday, but an Orlando featuring superstar Marta were the odds-on favorite to win at home even if leading goal-scorer Barabra Banda was sidelined with an injury sinceAugust.
Indeed, Orlando ended the game with the higher xG, but Gotham were the only team to find the back of the net. They will next face Washington Spirit in the title game on Saturday, November 22, at the neutral venue of PayPal Park in San Jose, CA.
Gotham FC: 0.17 xG, 5 shots, 1 shots on target, 52% possession, 388 passes, 79% pass accuracy, 9 fouls, 4 corners, 2 saves
Orlando Pride: 1.12 xG, 11 shots, 2 shots on target, 48% possession, 333 passes, 74% pass accuracy, 12 fouls, 4 corners, 0 saves
Goals:
• Gotham FC, Jaedyn Shaw, 90+7′
This current run of form echoes the 2023 NWSL Championship, when 6th-seeded Gotham became the lowest-ranked team in league history to win the title by beating three tough opponents on the road. That year, Gotham defeated North Carolina Courage 2-0, then Portland Thorns 1-0, before overcoming OL Reign 2-1 to win the title.
Once again, Gotham are playing like a championship-caliber team, not a squad that won just once in their last league games of the season to finish in 8th Place, just one point above the postseason cutoff. From Ann-Katrin Berger in goal, to a defense anchored by Jess Carter and Emily Sonnet, to the creativity of Rose Lavelle in the midfield, to Rookie of the Year nominee Lilly Reale on the left flank, to an attack featuring Esther González, Midge Purce, and Shaw, this stacked team are proving they have what it takes to defeat the best teams in the league.
Or, as Shaw put it after beating Kansas City, “Underdog, my ass.”
1. Jaedyn Shaw comes through, again
Shaw joined Gotham in September in a blockbuster deal that saw the club pay an intraleague-record $1.25 million for the 20-year-old. The transfer came as a surprise — Shaw joined from North Carolina, a team she had joined at the start of the season, where the young midfielder struggled to find minutes.
Shaw scored in her debut for Gotham, then added an assist two weeks later, but didn’t add any more goal involvements for the rest of the regular season.
Hudson River Blue Staff
It’s been a different story in the postseason, when Shaw was directly involved in all three of Gotham’s goals. Last week, she opened the scoring against Kansas City, then provided the stoppage-time assist that sealed the 2-1 win. Today, she won the game with a dipping free kick taken deep in stoppage time.
With both Lavelle and Shaw lined up to take the kick, Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse set her wall to the left. That created space for Shaw, who sent a low, curling kick that passed over the head of a ducking González, then bounced under the outmatched leg of Purce to find the back of the net.
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Was it straight from the training ground? Was it lucky? Maybe a bit of both? No matter: The ball was fired on target, and it proved to be enough to send Gotham to the title match — and to deny the 2024 champions a chance to defend their title.
“I’ve been working tireless on my free kicks since I got here, and I think the staff has done a really good job making me feel really confident in taking those. Me and Rose just, like, waited to see, like what the picture was going to look like to see who was going to take it,” Shaw said after the game. “Ultimately, I live for these moments, and I’m just really happy that I could make an impact for our team, and I love this team so much.”
As for Shaw’s catchphrase after the Kansas City win, it is now on an officially licensed T-shirt, and can be yours for just $30.
2. AKB doing AKB things
At the other end of the field, the Gotham goalkeeper put up a Player of the Match performance to keep a clean sheet against Orlando.
Berger, aka AKB, once again proved why the 2024 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year winner and 2025 Yashin Trophy finalist is one of the best shot-stoppers on the planet. She is credited with just two saves, but the sweeper-keeper led all players with 10 recoveries, and her aggressive defense set the tone for the team.
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AKB on patrol | Courtesy NWSL
Out of the two saves that AKB did make, the second should be nominated for an award. Just three minutes after Gotham scored, Orlando earned a free kick in Gotham’s half. Marta sent a gorgeous ball into the box, where Oihane Hernández sent a twisting header into the far side of the goal, only for a leaping AKB at full extension to get a hand on it and swat it away.
Shaw’s 97th-minute goal might have won the game, but AKB’s 100th-minute save preserved the result.
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AKB saves a goal – and the game – in the 90+10′ | Courtesy Gotham FC
In a game in which teams combined for just three shots on target, AKB came up big when it counted most.
3. Two East Coast teams meet in the West
After beating No 1-seed Kansas City and No 4-seed Orlando in unfriendly stadiums, Gotham will face No 2-seed Washington at PayPal Park, in sunny San Jose, CA, next Saturday. For once, Gotham will get to play in a neutral setting.
How that will impact the team remains to be determined. This Gotham squad seemed to feed off the energy of the hostile home crowds, entering both games with an air of confidence and composure. How many fans from the New York area will travel to the Left Coast to support the Bats? It could be that PayPal Park could become something like home turf, and one of the least-charismatic stadiums in the league could feel like friendly territory.
Or it could be that this road-toughened version of the Bats don’t care where the game will be played, or who will be in the stands. San Jose is as good a place to win a title as any.
