Women's Soccer
Gotham FC and Washington Spirit face off at Subaru Park
Women’s professional soccer returns to Chester when rivals Gotham FC and Washington Spirit face off tonight 7 p.m. EST at Subaru Park.
The two long-time NWSL rivals will play for the 43 rd time in club history, and the first in the Women’s Concacaf Champions Cup, which began its inaugural season last year.
The clubs continue the tradition of playing in Philadelphia. Last year, the teams met in the NWSL-Liga MX Summer Cup. Gotham won that game 1-0. In 2021, the teams met at Subaru Park in Carli Lloyd’s final season, hosting a sendoff for the UWNT legend from Delran, NJ.
Gotham, the 2024-25 Concacaf Champions Cup winners, leads group B with a 3-0 record after posting previous wins over Monterrey (2-1), Allianza (2-0), and Vancouver Rise Academy (4-1). A win clinches first place in the group, and a draw ensures the club’s qualification for the semifinals to be held next spring. Gotham has a 7-0-2 overall record in the competition.
Washington currently sits in second place in Group B with wins over Allianza (7-0) and Vancouver (4-0). Williamstown, NJ’s Brittany Ratcliffe scored the third goal in the victory over Allianza. The Spirit striker and lone Philly-area player to feature in this game appeared in 25 games this season, adding 3 goals.
The winner of the Concacaf Champions Cup qualifies for the 2027 FIFA Champions Cup and the inaugural 2028 FIFA Women’s Club World Cup. Gotham and Washington last played each other April 26 th at Audi Field. Esther González scored a brace and rookie Sarah Schupansky scored her first career goal in a 3-0 Gotham win. The New York club (11-7-4, 40 points) currently holds a six-point edge over Washington (9-7-6, 36 points) in the NWSL standings, trailing KC Current (18-2-2, 56 points), who lead the Supporters’ Shield race with four games remaining.
USWNT stars Rose Lavelle and Midge Purce lead a Gotham squad that has been rejuvenated in recent years and appears to be nearing full strength. Lavelle, the World Cup and Olympic champion, joined in 2024. She returned in June after recovering from ankle surgery last winter.
All three of her goals have come in the month of September. Purce, the 2023 NWSL Final MVP, missed last season after suffering a season-ending knee injury but scored her first goal in a 3-0 win over Portland several weeks ago. González, the Spanish international who arrived in 2023 from Real Madrid, ranks second in NWSL with 13 goals. Late-season addition Jaedyn Shaw arrived from North Carolina Courage in an NWSL-record transfer. This season, she became the youngest player in league history to score 15 goals.
Washington clinched its second-consecutive playoff berth after beating Houston 4-0 last weekend. Striker Gift Monday set an NWSL record with the fastest hat-trick at just under 36 minutes. Sofia Cantore scored the fourth. Monday has 8 goals on the season, and Cantore has 3. Cantore, an Italian international, arrived from Juventus this summer and has made an immediate impact. The striker finished 24 th in the Ballon d’Or Féminin voting.
Ashley Hatch ranks second on the team with 6 goals but has been out on maternity leave since July. USWNT star Trinity Rodman has 4 goals on the season, recently returning late summer from a lengthy back injury that’s affected her all season. Schupansky is tied for the NWSL-lead with 5 assists, and keeper Aubrey Kingsbury ranks fourth in the league with 68 saves and fifth with a 1.1 goals against average. Midfielder Lacey Santos was named NWSL’s Player of the Week several weeks ago for her outstanding performance in a 2-2 draw with Angel City.
The game will be broadcast live on Paramount+.
