The underdog label could also be a little bit of a misnomer for Gotham FC, the 2023 NWSL champions who’ve reached the semifinals for 3 years operating, however that isn’t to say 2025 didn’t include its personal trials and tribulations. Inconsistency noticed them slide all the best way right down to an eighth-place end within the common season, a lot of it right down to some main modifications in attacking personnel that may doubtless function the staff’s greatest level of intrigue within the offseason. As they put together for Saturday’s NWSL Championship in opposition to the Washington Spirit (8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+), although, they’ve discovered not solely a short lived repair however maybe the muse for a long-term refresh – Jaedyn Shaw.
The U.S. ladies’s nationwide staff expertise has solely 9 video games below her belt since becoming a member of Gotham from the North Carolina Braveness in a September commerce however her influence has been instantaneous. She has been the star of their upset-laden run to Saturday’s Championship sport, scoring at each the Kansas Metropolis Present and the Orlando Delight en path to the NWSL’s season finale. Within the quote of the postseason to this point, Shaw declared after the win in Kansas Metropolis that Gotham are to not be underestimated – “Underdog my ass. We’re not an underdog” – however she has nearly singlehandedly turned them right into a title contender, and at breakneck velocity.
Juan Carlos Amoros’ aspect are rooted in a defensive stability, which has not pale despite the fact that middle again Tierna Davidson sustained a season-ending ACL harm simply three weeks into the 2025 marketing campaign. Their defensive stats, identical to their precise again line, have held regular they usually stay amongst the league leaders in these classes. They averaged 0.8 objectives in opposition to and 1.1 anticipated objectives in opposition to in 2024, whereas the staff stands at 0.9 objectives conceded per sport and 1 anticipated objective in opposition to this season.
They, although, have slid down the NWSL’s attacking charts in between final yr and this one. Finish product is down utterly – they common 11.4 photographs a sport, rating eleventh within the league this season, down from final season’s 14.1 photographs per sport. It has translated to simply 1.2 anticipated objectives a sport, eighth within the NWSL in 2025, and 1.3 objectives scored, whereas in 2024 their objectives scored and anticipated objectives report matched at 1.6 per sport.
Comings and goings within the offseason performed a large position. Yazmeen Ryan left Gotham for the Houston Sprint after a five-goal, six-assist season, whereas Lynn Biyendolo departed for the Seattle Reign after notching 4 objectives and three assists in 2024. New additions Gabi Portillo, with three objectives and three assists in 2025, and Geyse, with two objectives and two assists, have fallen wanting these marks whereas Midge Purce has simply certainly one of every since getting back from an ACL harm in April. It has left Gotham overly reliant on MVP nominee Esther Gonzalez this yr – the Girls’s World Cup winner has 13 objectives in 2025, second solely to the Present’s Temwa Chawinga with 15. Gonzalez, although, scored roughly 40% of Gotham’s objectives through the common season, nearly endangering their playoff hopes since she was an unused substitute in opposition to the Present as she handled a hip harm.
Shaw has not changed Ryan and Biyendolo’s finish product on her personal, nor ought to she be anticipated to, however she has stepped into Gotham’s attacking void with ease. Whereas Gonzalez was absent in Kansas Metropolis, Shaw took on the position because the staff’s game-changing star, simply probably the most current attacker on the pitch over the course of 120 minutes – the 20-year-old created 5 probabilities, took 4 photographs, nabbed the sport’s opening objective and notched the help on Katie Stengel’s last-gasp game-winner.
It helps that Shaw is a extra pure tactical match at Gotham than she was on the Braveness, her elevated taking part in time with the New York space staff paving the best way for a better influence on the pitch. Her probability creation, shot-taking, help and goalscoring figures are up this season since her transfer to Gotham however she has outdone herself in her opening 9 video games along with her new membership. Her goalscoring figures are up barely from 2024, her last season with the San Diego Wave, however over her 9 sport stretch with Gotham, she’s averaging 2.2 photographs per sport – up from 2024’s common of 1.7 photographs – and producing 1.7 probabilities per sport, posting 1.2 probabilities per sport in 2024.
The U.S. worldwide’s reference to Gonzalez, who returned and began in Gotham’s 1-0 win at Orlando final week, will likely be of deal with Saturday in San Jose in addition to subsequent season, when the pair have extra time to work collectively. There’s by no means a second too quickly for one’s peak, particularly with the 2027 Girls’s World Cup roughly a yr and a half away, however Shaw’s fast begin at Gotham means she is well-positioned to play a critical position in simply her tenth sport for the membership – and probably stroll away with a championship within the course of.
