HARRISON, NJ — Jaedyn Shaw and Sophia Wilson got on the scoresheet in the 1-1 draw between Gotham FC and the Portland Thorns Friday night, but the game’s high-profile player quotient was otherwise low. Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett and Olivia Moultrie were nowhere to be found. The NWSL and U.S. women’s national team stalwarts are all out injured — Sonnett and Moultrie with season-ending knee injuries, and Lavelle with an undetermined head injury. The match was an illuminating picture of how elite teams handle injuries to their best players, and a peek at how Emma Hayes might compensate for their absences.
Friday’s draw extends Gotham’s unbeaten streak to ten games, a club record. It’s a testament to Gotham’s roster depth that the streak has persisted through Sonnett’s injury, which happened in the reverse fixture on July 24. Not many club teams can boast three world-class centerbacks, but Gotham can. Tierna Davidson and Jess Carter have seamlessly stepped into the roles, and Guro Reiten, Midge Purce and Bruninha have been effective as fullbacks, attacking players as they are. Now, Gotham looks squarely set to win the Shield.
Lavelle’s injury, however, brings a different kind of challenge for Gotham, especially since they just traded away her capable understudy Sarah Schupansky to Boston, and Sofia Cook is injured as well.
On Friday, interim head coach Shaun Harris opted to play Mandy Freeman as a fullback, push Reiten up into a wide attacking role, and pull Shaw into the midfield alongside Jaelin Howell and Savannah McCaskill. Those changes, however, were not seamless.
In the first half, Gotham dominated possession but struggled to do anything with it. They played with a high line, clearly trying to exploit Portland’s defensive weaknesses early. But the changed formation caused by Lavelle’s absence left things confused all over the park. Freeman was a little rusty joining the attack, and Reiten was coming inside — an area she’s not as strong in — more often than normal. The pairing of McCaskill and Shaw was disjointed; Dudley frequently pulled inside to help Gotham keep possession, and she did so effectively, though this position doesn’t make the most of her considerable talent. Even Gotham’s defense, typically so strong, made some unforced errors.
“Not having Rose, obviously she’s a big part of our team and our 11, so it sucks not having her here,” Shaw said after the game. “We’re hoping that she gets better very soon and just make sure that she’s healthy and not playing around with head stuff, because we need her in the long run.”
The team’s best chance came when Shaw put in a really nice cross to Kerr, who headed it toward the top corner, but fellow Aussie Mackenzie Arnold was wise to it. Gotham certainly had some bursts of individual skill but didn’t string them together where it counts.
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Portland has also been unbeaten since Moultrie’s early August injury by leaning into their transitional game. On Friday, head coach Robert Vilahamn started the same group as he did in the previous match against Denver, demonstrating the relative lack of depth on Portland’s bench, at least while Caiya Hanks and Morgan Weaver are working up to full fitness.
Portland played firmly on the defensive, led by a heroic half by defensive midfielder Jessie Fleming. Predictably, the bulk of their attack went through Wilson. She had a few good chances, but Gotham keeper Ann-Katrin Berger had a great half and prevented any goals, including on a solid give-and-go between Wilson and Pietra Tordin.
After the match, Fleming spoke about playing with a new-look midfield. “I’ve really enjoyed playing with Deyna [Castellanos] and Nina [Nijstad]. I think Nina’s been awesome since she’s come in, she’s super quiet but she kinda just goes about her business and does her work, and she’s a wonderful player. And then Dey, of course, is a creative, attacking player,” she said. “I think we’re still trying to figure out the balance, and how to best work with each other, and those partnerships take time, but I think it’s grown from game to game, and hopefully we can keep connecting more as a unit.”
There might not have been any goals in the first half, but at least there were also no injuries; no players required medical attention, so the half ended without any stoppage time.
But in the second half, things continued to look disjointed for both teams. Portland’s defense was playing sloppily, but Gotham couldn’t capitalize on their chances, either shooting wide, shooting at Arnold or failing to shoot at all.
Around the hour mark, however, everything changed. Shaw found yards of space way outside Portland’s box and lobbed a shot towards the net with a particularly audacious curve. The ball floated over Arnold’s head and splashed the back netting. Shaw hadn’t been having a particularly good game, but such is the case with elite players: one moment, however innocuous, can be all it takes to make the difference.
“I don’t think it’s a secret, based off of my reaction to the goal: I was trying to cross it,” Shaw said after the match. “I’m really happy it went in the goal.”
Purce was more generous in her appraisal. “It takes a really special player to score, even when you’re not trying,” the veteran said.
The goal opened up the game right away, and the teams traded chances for the rest of the night. Fifteen minutes after Shaw’s goal, Portland was awarded a free kick after VAR pointed out that Howell clipped Tordin’s heel and brought her down in the box. Wilson buried the penalty kick with a quick dagger to pull Portland level. It was her 11th of the season.
Fleming praised Tordin, who played her college soccer at nearby Princeton University. “She’s just a wonderful soccer player, she has a really high soccer IQ, and I absolutely love playing with her,” Fleming said. “She’s just super creative, you can really see her personality out there, and I think, for me, she’s definitely pushing for MVP of the league this year.”
Gotham’s attack continued to look disjointed, but a spark of hope had come in the 69th minute with the introduction of Denise O’Sullivan. The midseason signing had been out since the last match against Portland with a knee injury, and once she’s back to full fitness she’ll be a key piece for the club, especially if Lavelle remains unavailable.
“You can see a real belief and confidence in the team when she’s on the pitch,” Gotham interim head coach Shaun Harris said.
“I’ve always thought she was excellent and an underrated player, and that says a lot because she’s rated,” said Purce.
O’Sullivan might spell hope for the rest of the season, but Friday’s draw, however, was a disappointment to Gotham, who know they should have converted their chances. “I think it’s a consistent theme at the moment, of trying to build the right connections in the attacking third, and that’s not just our forwards,” Carter said. “That’s all of us making the right decisions and having those connections to try and be a bit more clinical.”
Lavelle is one of the most clinical players around; losing her inevitably means a huge blow for Gotham’s attack. But they’ve ridden their team-wide defense to the top of the table, and have no plans to stop now. Portland, on the other hand, are leaning hard into their transitional game now that Moultrie’s out. As Denver coach Nick Cushing whined about last week, they can afford to hold tight when they’ve got Wilson up top.
In the worst-case scenario that none of Sonnett, Lavelle, or Moultrie are available for the World Cup, USWNT coach Emma Hayes will have a challenging but not impossible task ahead of her. Since she started her tenure at the helm of the USWNT in 2024, she’s worked to bring as many players up to speed as possible with the system she envisions for the USWNT so that the team can be adaptable in the face of injuries. Players like Shaw and Croix Bethune can step in for Lavelle and Moultrie in the midfield, and Davidson, Naomi Girma, Tara Rudd and Jordyn Bugg are primed for central defender spots. In theory, Hayes has developed depth, but as the World Cup flies closer, the team’s adaptability will be put to the test.
Much sooner than the World Cup, however, is the final stretch of the NWSL season, and the ensuing playoffs. “This is a really important, sensitive, delicate part of the season. I think a lot of people don’t realize how much work goes into being healthy,” Purce said. “A long time ago, a very wise player said to me, ‘Half the battle is availability.’ And that was Crystal Dunn.” Dunn, who’s won it all, from nearly every position imaginable, would know.
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