Rose Lavelle leads Gotham to its second NWSL title in three seasons

Gotham forward Rose Lavelle received the ball at the top of the box, fired with left foot and slipped a shot right past Washington’s Aubrey Kingsbury. Sarah Schupansky set up the play and Bruninha made the final pass. The score held and Gotham defeated the Washington Spirit 1-0 to win the 2025 NWSL title.

“Bruna did all the heavy lifting and then just slotted it across,” Lavelle said. “Thank God that worked out.”

The match got off to a quick and aggressive start with both sides firing shots in the opening minutes. In fact, Jaedyn Shaw took a shot with the opening kick, much to the surprise of the sellout crowd of 17,000. 

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Gotham kept the pressure up, registering 13 shots and three on goal. The club also held Washington without a shot on goal in the contest, securing a shutout for Ann-Katrin Berger.

Washington did play an extended stretch in the second half down a player as Hal Herschfelt tried to treat an injury. She eventually subbed off right before Gotham’s goal. Trinity Rodman also missed several minutes of action as the clock wound down, appearing to receive treatment on her back.

With the victory, Gotham completed an improbable run that started with a No. 8 seed in the NWSL Playoffs. They faced the Shield-winning Kansas City Current on the road in the first half. That match went into extra time, but Gotham prevailed 2-1 with a go-ahead goal from Katie Stengel in stoppage time after the 120th minute.

Then, they continued on the road and knocked off the defending champions the Orlando Pride to advance to the final. 

“This was such a roller coaster of a season for us,” Lavelle said. “We had injuries, we had a really daunting schedule with the amount of games we were playing and the travel, but the way that every single individual stepped up in the moments they were asked to was huge.”

The title was Gotham’s second in three years but Lavelle’s first in nine years of NWSL play. She came close in Seattle, eventually falling to Gotham in the 2023 championship match. Lavelle was named MVP of the title match.

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