Week 22.5 recap: Through to the semis!

Gotham FC’s unbeaten streak extended to 10 in all competitions as the Bats drew 0-0 against the Washington Spirit in their final group stage match of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup and punched their ticket to the competition’s semifinals in 2026. The other semifinal spot out of this group will be decided in the Spirit’s match against Monterrey on October 15th—if Monterrey wins, they will move on as the second seed in the group, if the Spirit wins then they will move on as the first seed, and if the two teams draw, then the Spirit will move on as the second seed. 

Gotham could have guaranteed the top seed with a win, and based on the chances they created (1.93 xG to Washington’s 0.75), it feels like it should have been one. It’s easy to view the Bats’ performance as a failure in that regard, but take it from head coach Juan Carlos Amorós, as he said “I see us getting the job done… I think I'm definitely on the positive side with this one.” In this competition, there’s no home field advantage to having a higher seed, and with this result Gotham achieved its goal of qualifying for the semifinals. In addition to that:

• No one got injured

• Bench players got minutes and held their own against a very tough team

• Some starters got rest

So regardless of what we say in the rest of this piece, keep in mind that we are happy with this result. But with that said, let’s get into the match.

The lineup

We saw little rotation in the defense and midfield this match, with Jess Carter, Mandy Freeman, Jaelin Howell, and Josie Hasbo all pulling double shifts. Most notably, Howell and Hasbo, Gotham’s only remaining healthy players who can play the defensive midfielder role, have played 2 back to back full 90s in the past week. Newcomers to the backline this week were Lilly Reale and Kayla Duran, with player of the match Shelby Hogan in goal. Finally, we saw a complete rotation of the forward line, with Sofia Cook playing as attacking midfielder, Khyah Harper and Sarah Schupansky on the wings, and Katie Stengel up top as the striker.

Gotham’s first substitutions came in the 66th minute, as Jess Carter, Mandy Freeman, and Khyah Harper came off for Emily Sonnett, Bruninha, and Jaedyn Shaw. Then, in the 79th, Cook and Stengel left the field for Rose Lavelle and Midge Purce. After she went down and immediately requested a substitution last weekend against Portland, Bruninha playing in this match suggests that her injury is thankfully not as serious as it initially looked to be.

The game

On paper, this match got off to a rough start for Gotham, conceding 0.53 xG and generating 0 xG in the first 30 minutes of the match. In the first half overall the Spirit led in xG (0.57 vs. 0.28), shots (5 vs. 4), and shots on target (2 vs. 1), with the two teams splitting possession and goals (0) evenly. So while Gotham was defensively sound enough not to concede, there was still room for concern in terms of the control of the game. In fact, Washington Spirit head coach Adrián González noted that the Spirit were expecting Gotham to come out more aggressive with a high press from the start.

Overall, the first half was fine. Gotham was connecting their passes, and probably would’ve registered a few more shots if Katie Stengel wasn’t always offside or if the two coaches hadn’t made a pact to only do short corners. Plus, we got to see this awesome turn from rookie Sofia Cook while she was under pressure from Hal Hershfelt.

Cook also had the most successful dribbles of the match (3) and tied for the most chances created on the team, so we were excited to see some promising action from a player we haven’t seen much of.

Gotham really came out swinging in the second half, however, generating 8 shots and putting 1.65 xG compared to the Spirit’s 3 shots totalling 0.18 xG. When asked about the difference between the first and second halves, head coach Juan Carlos Amorós credited the second half success to “mak[ing] sure that we could apply pressure properly,” “adjust[ing] the angle of Shelby to help us when they were releasing the pressure on Jess Carter and Jaelin Howell,” and “be[ing] a little bit more aggressive when we try to find the balls in behind.” The results of these changes were pretty immediate—1.37 of Gotham’s xG came from 3 shots within the first 10 minutes of the second half. Let’s take a look at them.

Shot 1: 48’, 0.57 xG

This one came from Katie Stengel. Gotham did a good job keeping the ball alive in the box and Jaelin Howell had excellent placement on her cross, but unfortunately Spirit goalkeeper Sandy MacIver also had a good read of the situation, and by the time the ball got to Stengel it was hard to shoot it anywhere but straight at the goalie. For that reason, we’re not sure why this shot had such a high xG value, but hey, we’re not the scientists here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Shot 2: 55’, 0.49 xG

Right before Khyah Harper gets the ball here, you can hear Amorós yelling on the sideline, “Khyah back onside, back onside,” and thank god she listens because otherwise we would’ve missed her excellent drive through a Spirit defender on the right side. The box is crowded with Gotham players and an empty net for a second, so it looks like surely Gotham will score on this play, but after some bouncing around Josie Hasbo’s shot just barely misses and hits the post instead.

Shot 3: 55’, 0.31 xG

In the aftermath of that, Sarah Schupansky attempts a backheel into a goalie-less net but the Spirit defenders are on it and clear the ball to their own teammate.

Although Gotham wasn’t able to turn offensive chances into goals, they also had a strong second half defensively. Despite having less ball possession in the second half (43% vs. 57%), they limited the Spirit to 3 shots, 1 shot on target, 0.18 xG, and 0 big chances. Not too shabby against the second best team in the league, who in this half subbed on superstars like NWSL rookie of the month Deborah Abiodun, 2024 midfielder and rookie of the year Croix Bethune, Copa América finalist Leicy Santos, Rebecca Bernal, and Euros winner Esme Morgan.

So yeah. Not much happened in this match so we don’t have much to say. We’re really proud of the performances of Gotham’s rookies and are excited to see more of them next year. We’re proud of Gotham for making it through to the semifinals of this competition. And we’re excited that the Bats will not have another midweek match for the rest of the calendar year, meaning the players will finally get the rest that they deserve.

Looking ahead to next match

Gotham next plays the Seattle Reign at home on Sunday, October 5th at 4 PM ET on NWSL+. The last time these two teams met, it ended in a 1-1 draw in the season opener. Seattle currently sits 1 spot and 1 point below Gotham in league standings, with 9 wins, 6 draws, and 7 losses, having won twice, drawn once, and lost twice in their past 5 games. Seattle has a strong defense, with veteran Phoebe McClernon and youngster Jordyn Bugg in central defense and Sofia Huerta and Madison Curry as fullbacks. The team also has some promising attackers in Mia Fishel, Maddie Dahlien, and Nérilia Mondésir, with former Bat Lynn Biyendolo out with an injury for the past 5 matchweeks. Gotham needs a win here to hang onto its 3rd place spot in standings, but it will be a tall ask after having played the 4th place and 2nd place teams within the span of a week.

Thumbnail courtesy of Gotham FC.