On Sunday, May 28th, NJ/NY Gotham FC faced the Washington Spirit away at Audi Field. The team was looking to finish off their two game away trip with another win after beating OL Reign last week by four goals to one. In a tough back-and-forth match, Gotham secured a well-earned point in a 1-1 draw and remain atop of the National Women’s Soccer League standings with 17 points in 9 games.
Sunday’s game marked the first regular season meeting of Gotham and the Spirit, although not their first meeting of the year. The two east coast sides faced each other last month in the NWSL Challenge Cup where Gotham came out on top at their home match in a 1-0 win at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey thanks to a Lynn Williams goal in the 56th minute.
Heading into Sunday’s game, Gotham manager Juan Carlos Amoros kept the same 4-3-3 formation with only one change in his starting XI from the previous game against the Reign. Yazmeen Ryan entered the starting XI instead of Sinead Farrelly, who did not travel with the team.
Gotham leading the way in the first half
Gotham’s first chance of the match came from a corner kick in the 8th minute. Kristie Mewis sent the ball into the box, which was headed out by a Spirit defender. The ball rolled towards Taylor Smith, who ran up and took a shot from outside the box. The ball passed through all of the defenders inside the box but just missed its mark.
Four minutes later, the Spirit got a chance of their own from a corner kick. Ashley Hatch played a short corner to Inès Jaurena who played it back to Hatch. Hatch crossed the ball from the left side to find Tara McKeown who headed the ball just over the goal.
In the 18th minute, Gotham’s Jenna Nighswonger gave a short pass off to Ryan outside the box for a shot that goes over the bar. Just two minutes later, Gotham found another chance, passing the ball around inside the box to find an opportunity, Taylor Smith passed the ball to Lynn Williams, who then passed it off to Bruninha running down the right hand side. Bruninha cross into the box is stopped by Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe.
Gotham finally broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute, Taylor Smith, surrounded by two defenders on the left side, gave a pass off to Bruninha, who dribbled the ball up into the middle of the box and takes a shot with her right foot sending the ball into the top right corner of the goal. The Brazilian outside back notched her second goal of the season in back to back games.
Up by one, Gotham pushed forward to score another goal. The opportunity came in the 36th minute when Williams sent a ground pass over to Taylor Smith on the left who then passed it off to Nighswonger. The ball found Delanie Sheehan’s right foot, but she was unable to put it away into the back of the net.
The Spirit got one last chance before the end of the first half in the 43rd minute with a shot from outside the box coming from Ashley Sanchez, but Gotham keeper Abby Smith makes a comfortable save to end the half.
Washington fights back in the second half
The Spirit got to work immediately in the second half of Sunday’s action. In the 47th minute following a Spirit goal kick, Trinity Rodman finds the ball, getting past Gotham defender Ali Krieger and taking a shot with her left foot, but straight into the arms Abby Smith.
Gotham would score what should have been their second goal of the match in the 54th minute. A perfectly executed cross from Nighswonger found the diving head of Ryan who put the ball past Bledsoe to put Gotham up 0-by two. Unfortunately for Gotham, the goal would be ruled off due to a handball in the lead up play. Although Gotham midfielder Nealy Martin appeared to stop the ball with her chest, the referee reviewed the play via VAR and determined that the ball touched her arm, and the goal was disallowed.
The Spirit took advantage of this lifeline and just a few moments later in the 68th minute, found their equalizer. A corner kick from Hatch found Paige Metayer who headed the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-1.
From here on, the Spirit controlled the game, applying significant pressure to Gotham and finding more opportunities to go ahead. One such chance came from Spirit defender Sam Stabb who crossed a ball into the box finding Lena Silano who headed the ball wide.
Washington would get one last chance to try and snatch all 3 points in extra time when Trinity Rodman picks up a ball sent by Andi Sullivan into the box, but the shot rolls comfortably into the hands of Abby Smith.
What’s next for Gotham FC?
Gotham FC’s next match will be on Sunday, June 4th where the team will take on the visiting San Diego Wave in Week 10 of the NWSL. For more information, visit GothamFC.com.