SAN JOSE — Some said the club had no chance of getting there. But as the golden tinsel unfurled at PayPal Park no one was denying NJ/NY Gotham FC their place as a worthy National Women’s Soccer League champion.
Gotham promised to recreate the magic of 2023, and it did.
This was a consummate champion flexing its muscle memory. This was the No. 8-seed Gotham beating the No. 2-seed Washington Spirit.
A 1–0 win over Washington was delivered by a former Spirit player who had never lifted an NWSL championship before: Rose Lavelle. (Although ironically enough, Lavelle had scored in the 2023 final for the Seattle Reign, who were beaten, 2–1, by Gotham that year.)
In San Jose, the Spirit battled for 80 tense minutes, where neither side excelled all that much and the match remained scoreless, before Bruninha danced her way into the box and slipped the ball across for Lavelle, who delivered a dagger from 18 yards out with a spectacular first-time shot into the bottom corner.
BIG TIME PLAYER IN A BIG TIME MOMENT.
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 23, 2025
ROSE LAVELLE GETS GOTHAM UP 1-0!#NWSLChampionship | @madebygoogle pic.twitter.com/1dwO5p0Aub
This has been a consistent formula for Gotham, managing their way through games so their stars can deliver when it counts. Stay smart, absorb and pick your moments. And what a moment Lavelle’s goal was. With extra time looming, the ball cut through the cool northern California air like a runaway Caltrain with no destination.
This is the second final win and second trophy for Gotham in the last six months, after they became the first-ever winners of the Concacaf W Champions Cup with a 1–0 win over UANL Tigres. It was also Gotham’s second NWSL Championship in three seasons. And on both occasions, Gotham entered the playoffs as the bottom seed before winning a title. In the now-famous words of Gotham midfielder Jaedyn Shaw: “Underdog, my a--.”
Wins by a score of 1–0 have become Gotham’s lifeblood and Saturday was no different. This is a team that thrives in tight affairs and understands how to manage the high stakes.
“I think you learn the most about yourself in the toughest moments,” Lavelle said. “What we faced throughout the season really helped set us. We had seen it all. So I don’t think anything felt like new or unfamiliar going into this. And I think that that was a really big advantage for us.”
Lavelle’s title-winning strike was not unlike Shaw’s direct free kick that won the semifinal,1–0, over the defending champion Orlando Pride. This final was not unlike the 2023 final, where Midge Purce dazzled, setting up two goals for heavy-hitters Lynn Williams and Esther González.
JAEDYN SHAW TO SEND @GothamFC TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) November 16, 2025
🎥 @NWSL pic.twitter.com/b1YnMH9MIJ
For Purce, it’s simple: Gotham has “that dawg in them.”
“I think every single person on the field had that dawg in them. I have to shout out Bruninha, Mandy [Freeman] and Lilly [Reale]. They were so good with their attacking, their presence and shutting down Spirit,” Purce said postgame, while celebrating with a cigar. “It’s that DNA. It’s just something special. And I’m just proud of everybody. Gotham DNA.”
So much of this “dawg” mentality is built on a backbone of tried and true Gotham grinders. The 2025 trophy was hoisted by captain and defender Mandy Freeman. She is a one-club player, drafted by Gotham in 2017, and has been through all the highs and lows.
Gotham’s defense deserves as much credit as Lavelle. Emily Sonnett blocked the Spirit’s best chance of the game by hurling her entire body in the way of a shot by Leicy Santos. Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, despite not having to make a single save due to the immaculate structure in front of her, was quick off her line to swallow up any hopeful through passes.
Juan Carlos Amorós, who becomes just the third NWSL manager to win multiple championships, read the temperature of the 2025 final immaculately. With left back Lilly Reale on thin ice after receiving a first-half yellow card, he pulled the defender early in the second half and brought on Bruninha in her place. The move became a masterstroke.
When the dust (and confetti) have settled, this final will be seen as an upset in seeding only. Gotham have proved that no one enters a final with their mindset and belief, their ability to master the occasion.
Billie Jean King once said that “pressure is privilege” but for Gotham, pressure might as well be a prompt—a clear sign that now is the time to turn it on and play their best soccer.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Gotham FC Cement Status As NWSL’s Most Clutch Team Under Pressure.
