– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — In more ways than one, Gotham FC had to overcome a storm on Saturday afternoon, and though the skies didn’t look it afterward, the team made sure their outlook at the end was as breathtaking as the rainbow that surely would have emerged after their colorful finish on the pitch.
Rose Lavelle punctuated a stunning comeback with the game-winning goal in the eighth minute of second-half injury time as Gotham FC scored the final three goals of the game in a 3-2 win over Seattle Reign FC inside waterlogged Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island on Saturday afternoon. Esther González scored a brace just minutes before the game-winner to even the score.
The victory vaulted the NWSL defending champions to first place in the league standings with 30 points, as Gotham FC has won five of their last six contests after an uneven start to the campaign.
Just three days after their historic yet star-crossed event in the Queens section of New York City at Citi Field, where the largest crowd to ever attend a women’s sporting event in the Big Apple was also overshadowed by the ominous, hazy conditions due to the Canadian wildfires, Gotham FC also had to deal with Mother Nature’s wrath: powerful thunderstorms and threats of lightning caused an hour-long delay before kickoff.
Soon after kickoff, the Reign brought more stormy conditions to the New York faithful, scoring twice in an eight-minute span to take a 2-0 lead on a 14th-minute penalty from Mia Fishel and a strike from Maddie Mercado just eight minutes afterward.
The comeback could have been DOA if it wasn’t for a penalty that Seattle wasn’t able to convert in the 57th minute: Maddie Dahlien was able to beat Gotham goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Beger but not the bottom of the left upright, and the lead remained at 2-0.
From there, Gotham’s comeback was on. In the 81st minute, Jaedyn Shaw’s cross from the left wing found the substitute González, who one-timed a volley past Reign keeper Cassie Miller at the near post to halve Gotham’s deficit.
It took until the fourth minute of stoppage time for Gotham FC to find the equalizer as another cross into the box found Shaw, who chested it down before González was the first to pounce on the loose ball and fire home from close range to tie the score.
González also played a role in the winner, as she found new teammate — and the NWSL’s all-time leading scorer — Sam Kerr at the top of the box as Gotham looked for the winner. Kerr muffed her shot attempt, but the loose ball went right into the path of Lavelle, who ran onto the ball and slotted her shot into the upper left corner for the dramatic game-winner.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Dale Horton. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 41 pictures in total.
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