Three of the top four teams in the NWSL standings dueled for points on Wednesday night, with results staying the same after the Washington Spirit and Gotham FC came away with wins.
The Spirit and Royals seemed pretty evenly matched, with both teams pressing hard and having lots of chances. Meanwhile, controversy cast a shadow over the San Jose match, as a Bay FC equalizer was called back within the first 10 minutes.
Let the chaos begin.
NWSL After Dark delivered
Bay FC hosted Gotham in an exciting first half, with the Bats coming out aggressive from the jump. That momentum was rewarded in the second minute, as Purce finished a corner from Jaedyn Shaw to put Gotham up early. This marked the second consecutive game in which Purce has scored in the early minutes of the match.
Only minutes later, Bay FC came roaring back with a response, with the frontline of Christina Girelli, Kennedy Fuller and Karlie Lema taking advantage of a miscommunication within Gotham’s backline with Fuller finishing the ball into an open net. However, confusion ensued as a lengthy VAR check ruled the goal offside early in the buildup. The check was controversial, as a replay didn’t occur on the broadcast or at the stadium, creating confusion among viewers and the home team alike.
Bay FC coach Emma Coates shared in the confusion, commenting after the game, “I’m really confused about the decision for our disallowed goal. I’ve watched it back a couple of times, and I have many questions.”
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One time zone east, two powerful attacking sides went head-to-head, rewarding fans with an exciting twenty-three minutes only to be interrupted by a lightning-prompted weather delay.
While Utah pressed in the beginning, Spirit looked like the stronger side out of the weather delay. A couple of breakaways and lots of forward momentum resulted in the Spirit’s first goal of the game, with winger Paige Metayer playing a beautiful ball across the box to an incoming Trinity Rodman at the far post. The goal was Rodman’s eighth of the season. The Spirit are certainly happy to have the superstar back in form after her 2025 season was plagued by injury.
The Royals came back near the end of the half, with intense pressure resulting in several corners, with Cece Delzer and Chloe LaCasse largely dominating their matchups on the wings. However, for a team that has the most goals off set pieces this NWSL season, the Utah side was unable to convert.
Royals head coach Jimmy Coenraet’s side was able to continue that momentum in the second half, providing relentless attack against the Spirit between set pieces and beautiful balls into the box. However, the Spirit rose to the occasion, with great box defending and closing down Royals players with the ball. Goalkeeper Sandy MacIver had a great performance as well, saving a couple of dangerous shots and keeping her backline organized and cohesive.
Bay FC hosting the NWSL champions felt a little different, as Bay FC goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz had to come up big with saves throughout the game, totaling over twenty by the end of 90 minutes.
Bay took advantage of more space than they may have been given usually, given the fact that Gotham goalkeeper Ann Katrin Berger and defender Emily Sonnett were both absent last night, creating some chaos in the backline. Those absences led to Bay’s first goal, later disallowed, because of a miscommunication between the centerbacks and goalkeeper Shelby Hogan.
However, centerbacks Jess Carter and Tierna Davidson were able to iron out the mistakes, coming up big everywhere on the pitch the rest of the game. Davidson hit a volley off a corner that nearly netted Gotham’s second goal, if it wasn’t for the powerful glove of Silkowitz.
Wednesday marked assistant coach Shaun Harris’ second match at the helm, during head coach Juan Carlos Amorós’ five-week paternal leave.
A halftime substitution saw Brazilian winger Bruninha come in for the goalscorer Midge Purce, a good move in the long run because of a crucial Bruninha slide tackle save in the closing minutes of the game.
It nearly looked like Gotham might score again, with forward Jordan Dudley on a breakaway 1v1 with Jordan Silkowitz in the 86th minute, but the Bay FC goalkeeper once again denied the NY/NJ team a second goal. Dudley had a wide-open Rose Lavelle at the top of the box but opted to go herself.
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Despite Gotham coming away with the win, Bay FC had reason to celebrate in the second half when veteran defender Abby Dahlkemper subbed in for the first time since having her son Eli in February.
In reflecting upon her return after the game, Dahlkemper said, “Hopefully one day I can look back with my son Eli and just hopefully make him proud.” Dahlkemper spoke positively of the Bay FC organization and the team for supporting her in her return from maternity leave.
Meanwhile, Wednesday marked Gotham midfielder Jaelin Howell’s 100th regular-season appearance, and she discussed the difficulty of this week for her team. “I think overall it was a good team performance; I think a three-game week, on the road again, we kinda had to gut that one out.”
Looking ahead, this weekend boasts exciting matchups across the country, with Gotham continuing their road trip down to Texas to face the Houston Dash. The Dash are coming off a 3-game unbeaten streak, and will look to build momentum off their win against Bay FC. Meanwhile, the number one team in the league heads back home to Audi Field to face fourth-ranked San Diego Wave.
Utah will look to get a win at home, despite facing the fifth-ranked Portland Thorns. If they can bring the intensity on both sides of the ball that they channeled on Wednesday night, all they need to do is finish and they could pick up three points. Bay FC stays at home as well, facing a Seattle Reign team fresh off a win against San Diego.
The challenge for all four teams will be whether they can bring their best despite a 3-game matchweek.
