Photo Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images
In front of a sellout crowd at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday night, Gotham FC defeated the Washington Spirit in the 2025 NWSL Championship by a lone goal.
Gotham thought they had opened the scoring less than five minutes into the game when Esther González found the back of the net, but it was called back as she was offside.
The decisive goal wouldn’t come until much later, in the 80th minute, when Gotham swept forward into the attack with quickness and ruthlessness. Bruninha flew down the left side, and though her cutback ball initially missed several teammates, it found the trailing Rose Lavelle, who perfectly placed her one-touch finish in the far bottom corner.
Lavelle was named the 2025 NWSL Championship game MVP 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, just narrowly avoiding elimination. Similar to their 2023 run to the Championship, in which they just barely qualified as the sixth and final seed that season.
Despite a rough end to the 2025 regular season, Gotham are now two-time NWSL Champions.
