Photo credit: John Hefti-Imagn images
In front of a sold-out crowd at PayPal Park in San Jose, California, Gotham FC defeated the Washington Spirit in the 2025 NWSL Championship by one goal on Saturday night.
Gotham thought they had opened the scoring less than five minutes into the match when Esther González found the back of the net, but the ball was called back for being offside.
The decisive goal would not come until much later, in the 80th minute, when Gotham charged quickly and ruthlessly on the attack. Bruninha flew down the left side, and although her cutback ball initially missed several teammates, it found the trailing Rose Lavelle, who placed her one-touch finish perfectly into the far bottom corner.
Lavelle was named MVP of the 2025 NWSL Championship game for her performance.
It was Lavelle’s second career playoff goal. Her first playoff goal came in the 2023 NWSL Championship against Gotham for then-OL Reign. She joined Gotham as a free agent in the offseason that immediately followed.
Gotham entered the playoffs this season as the eighth seed and narrowly avoided elimination. Similar to their run to the championship in 2023, which saw them narrowly qualify as the sixth and final seed that season.
Despite a rough end to the 2025 regular season, Gotham is now a two-time NWSL champion.
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