Recap: Spirit Drops Championship to Gotham FC, Finishes Season as Runner-Up

San Jose, Calif. (11/22/2025) – The Washington Spirit lost a hard-fought NWSL Championship 0-1 to Gotham FC on Saturday night. Gotham’s Rose Lavelle netted the game-winner in the 80th minute. 

Gotham started out on the front foot with three shots in the first ten minutes. In the fifth minute, Gotham FC appeared to have taken an early lead with a strike from close-range, but the play was ruled offside. Jaedyn Shaw found the frame with a shot in the sixth minute but Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury was up to the task with her first save of the night. 

Both sides jockeyed for position throughout the remainder of the half, even going over 15 minutes between shot attempts by either side. Washington found a couple attacking opportunities when Croix Bethune and Gift Monday took shots in the 14th and 18th minutes, respectively, though neither was on target. 

As the first half winded down, forward Rosemonde Kouassi found herself free along the sideline for a run but was fouled by Gotham defender Lilly Reale who was issued a yellow card in stoppage time. The Spirit and Gotham went into the locker rooms still deadlocked a zero before the final half of the season. 

Neither side was able to land a shot on target through the first 30 minutes of the second half with important blocks by the defense taking up much of the action in the attacking ends. Spirit forward Trinity Rodman subbed into the match in the 57th minute, relieving fellow forward Sofia Cantore. Washington maintained strong possession to start the second half but wasn’t able to find a shot on target. 

After more back-and-forth action, Gotham FC struck first in the 80th minute. Substitute Bruninha found Rose Lavelle near the top of the box and Lavelle buried a shot for the 1-0 lead. 

The Spirit attack was unable to create any strong threats to the Gotham defending third over the final ten minutes of the second half or five minutes of stoppage time. With the final whistle, Gotham FC captured its second championship as Washington finished the 2025 season as runner-up. 

 

-NWSL Match Report- 

Match: Washington Spirit vs. Gotham FC 

Date: Saturday, November 22, 2025 

Venue: PayPal Park (San Jose, Calif.) 

Kickoff: 8 p.m. EST 

Weather: Clear, mid-50s 

 

Scoring Summary: 

Goals	1	2	F
Washington	0	0	0
Gotham	0	1	1

GFC – Rose Lavelle – 80′ (assisted by Bruninha) 

 

Lineups: 

WAS: 1 – Aubrey Kingsbury; 6 – Kate Wiesner (26 – Paige Metayer, 90’); 9 – Tara McKeown; 4 – Rebeca Bernal; 24 – Esme Morgan; 19 – Rosemonde Kouassi; 7 – Croix Bethune; 17 – Hal Hershfelt (20 – Deborah Abiodun, 81’); 10 – Leicy Santos; 27 – Sofia Cantore (2 – Trinity Rodman, 57’); 21 – Gift Monday 

Unused Substitutes: 28 – Sandy MacIver; 5 – Narumi Miura; 13 – Brittany Ratcliffe; 16 – Courtney Brown; 22 – Heather Stainbrook; 25 – Kysha Sylla 

GFC: 30 – Ann-Katrin Berger; 4 – Lilly Reale (3 – Bruninha, 62’); 27 – Jess Carter; 6 – Emily Sonnett; 22 – Mandy Freeman; 16 – Rose Lavelle; 7 – Jaelin Howell; 11 – Sarah Schupansky; 2 – Jaedyn Shaw; 9 – Esther González; 23 – Midge Purce 

Unused Substitutes: 1 – Shelby Hogan; 5 – Josefine Hasbo; 10 – Geyse; 13 – Ella Stevens; 18 – Gabi Portilho; 19 – Kayla Duran; 21 – Sofia Cook; 28 – Katie Stengel 

 

Stats Summary: WAS / GFC 

Shots: 7 / 13 

Shots On Goal: 0 / 3 

Saves: 2 / 0 

Fouls: 16 / 13 

Offsides: 4 / 3 

 

Misconduct Summary: 

GFC – Lilly Reale – 45+3’ – Yellow Card 

GFC – Bruninha – 90+3’ – Yellow Card 

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