Week 3 recap: Midweek madness

Gotham FC is undefeated no more in the 2026 season as the Bats fell 2-0 to expansion side Denver Summit Wednesday night. This loss also ended a 449-minute streak of not having conceded a goal in NWSL play. Midweek games are a nightmare for a team, and midweek matches so early in the season are even more so for a team like Gotham that doesn’t do so well at the start. The minute management that midweek matches demand, as well as Gotham’s injury situation, resulted in a game for the Bats that can only be described as madness.

Madness up top

With a midweek game happening so early in the season, as some players are still working up to being fit for a full 90, the lineup for this one was always going to be funky. Sophomore midfielder Sofia Cook and rookie forward Andrea Kitahata earned their first ever NWSL starts, and Sarah Schupansky found herself back in the lineup after Gotham tried the “Oops! All finishers!” set-up last game. Katie Stengel started her third straight game for the Bats to round out the attacking four. 

After trying out an ultimately fruitless 4-2-2-2 against North Carolina, Gotham played a classic 4-3-3 in this match. The problem up top was that with one striker, one winger, and two attacking midfielders, there was no obvious way to arrange the players. The most logical solution would have been to play Sofia Cook at the 10 and have Sarah Schupansky play winger, where she’s played before in college. But somehow in the midst of all of this Gotham ended up playing with no 10s. 

What was this lineup able to achieve?

Chances for Lampson

Returning to the single-striker system that the Bats have found so much success with did kind of pay off in this match. Unfortunately, it was just not Katie Lampson’s night in that spot. Let’s take a look at some of the moments where her teammates set her up well. 

Moment 1: 2’

This could’ve turned into a shot if Gotham had a pacier player up top. 

Moment 2: 5’

This ball to Lampson came all the way from center back Jess Carter, which explains why it’s not perfect. Lampson did a decent job managing it, but unfortunately Denver did a better job with their defensive positioning. 

Moment 3: 43’

Savannah McCaskill has a beauty of a ball forward to Lampson here, who again is just not fast enough to turn this into a meaningful chance. 

Dudley (almost) delivers

Chance 1: 66’

Here, we see the benefits of having pace on the front line. Jordynn Dudley is able to turn a clearance into a 0.38 xG chance. Gotham alum Abby Smith does well.

Chance 2: 86’

Speed from Midge Purce on the wing and speed from Jordynn Dudley in the middle as she effortlessly outruns most of the Denver Summit is what almost results in a goal.

Gotham only scoring one goal through its first three games isn’t exactly new territory for the Bats (also true in 2025 and 2024, if you count the Challenge Cup game of weekend 1). But maybe let’s set ourselves up for a little more success next time, eh?

Madness in goalkeeping (and defense)

Kayla Duran’s redemption at right back went well on Saturday against the North Carolina Courage, so head coach Juan Carlos Amorós decided to roll with the exact same back line that we saw over the weekend. Was it a defensive breakdown that caused Gotham’s first loss of the season?

I mean, look. Denver’s 2 goals came from a counterattack…

… and an error from goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger that was horrendous but probably won’t be happening very often. 

But on the other hand, Gotham allowed 5 whole shots on target that combined for a whopping 2.5 PSxG. The biggest non-goal chances that Gotham conceded came from regular build-up play, where gaps between lines were easily exposed and Gotham looked slow and reactive rather than fast and proactive.

Gotham doesn’t do enough to prevent the long ball over the top, and then after that they’re just outrun. Melissa Kössler’s gets 1-on-1 with AKB her shot registers a full 0.61 xG. 

Swiss cheese defense again, and everyone is left reacting a step too late. 0.12 xG, so a bit of an improvement but still something this team shouldn’t be allowing.

Speed is not something that Gotham can improve overnight, but that wasn’t the only thing lacking in the Bats’ defense on Wednesday. They looked out of sorts and not as aware of what was going on in the game as they usually do. Perhaps the best path forward is to just shake it off. Midfielder Sofia Cook mentioned, “I try to have a goldfish memory — just roll with it and keep going. We can use that to our advantage.”

Looking ahead to next match

Gotham’s 3-game home stint comes to an end this Sunday, March 29th as the Bats take on the Orlando Pride at 7 PM ET, broadcast live on Victory+. Like Gotham, the Pride are currently sitting on 4 points, with 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss to their name. Unlike Gotham, they’ve scored 5 goals in their 3 games so far and their most recent result is a 3-0 win against the Chicago Stars. 2024 NWSL standout Barbra Banda is back with the team after missing much of the 2025 season with injury, and has scored in each of their 3 matches so far. In addition, FIFA Marta Award nominee Jacquie Ovalle finally opened her NWSL account on Wednesday and seems to have only whet her appetite for goals. Gotham needs to shape up defensively in order to stand a chance against this team that is much more threatening in front of goal than the Denver Summit. And some goals scored would be nice too.

Thumbnail courtesy of Gotham FC.