Gotham FC powers past Orlando Pride with another playoff stoppage-time winner | OneFootball

Lightning strikes twice as NJ/NY Gotham FC, for the second week in a row, scored a stoppage-time winner to send them to the NWSL Championship. Last week against the Kansas City Current, it was a 120' + 1' minute winner from Katie Stengel. This week, it was a winner from Jaedyn Shaw in the 90' + 7' minute against the Orlando Pride. Her goal sealed a 1-0 win.

This marks Gotham's second championship game appearance in three years and their sixth playoff win over the past three seasons, more than any other team in the NWSL over that timeframe. This is also the team's second final of 2025 as they beat Tigres UANL Femenil in the inaugural CONCACAF W Champions Cup Final back in May.

Orlando was, of course, without arguably their best player, Barbra Banda, who suffered a season-ending adductor injury back in August. Still, the Pride looked like the better team for large portions of the game.

While Shaw did not provide the same headline quote after the win as she did last week, she and Mandy Freeman both exuded a lot of self-belief and confidence in themselves and the team as a whole throughout the course of these playoffs.

Late heroics send Gotham FC to another Championship Game

The first half was a pretty cagey affair, with really only one chance of note. In the 33rd minute, Jacquie Ovalle was wide open in front of the goal when a cross came her way that she failed to make solid contact with. Replays show Emily Sonnett did deflect the cross on the way to Ovalle, which may have been just enough to affect her ability to get a clean strike.

Both teams had periods of momentum in the first half, but the defenses did enough to neutralize the attacks. Orlando seemingly had the better of the chances, but Gotham had better periods of possession and slightly better sustained pressure in their attacking half of the field.

The second half carried on much in the same way that the first half had played out. It was very cagey, with both teams having time in the opponents' half, but neither was overly threatening. Orlando did have better luck in actually getting some chances and shots on goal, but Gotham did a pretty good job at bending but not breaking and absorbing the pressure from the Pride.

As the half went on, it looked more and more like the Florida side would be the first ones to score, and they came close on several occasions. That then shifted around the 83rd minute mark when the Bats suddenly started to come to life. A few corners and other chances made it seem like the momentum had suddenly swung in Gotham's favor.

After a free kick deep into stoppage time appeared to be the last chance for the visitors to find a late winner, and they took it with both hands. It was Shaw who again provided the offense. She sent a free kick into the box that bounced just in front of Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse and snuck its way into the goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time.

Then, just minutes after, Orlando nearly found the equalizer. On a free kick from around 35-40 yards out, Marta sent a ball into the box that found the head of Oihane Hernández. She headed the ball, and Ann-Katrin Berger made another spectacular save.

Reminiscent of her save in this summer's Euros against France, Berger was falling backwards and managed to not only get a hand to it, but also parried the ball away into a non-dangerous position. This would end up being the last action from the game as the referee blew the final whistle after the ball had been cleared out of bounds by Jess Carter.

It certainly was not pretty from Gotham like last week's win against the Kansas City Current. The Bats managed just 0.17 xG, with just 0.03 of that coming from open play, and one shot on target for the whole match. Nevertheless, they did what they needed to do in order to come away with the win.

Some standout performers from this match include Berger, who made that incredible save to end the game. Shaw was also a standout, who, in addition to her goal, had the most tackles of anyone in the match with five.

It was also another standout performance from Sonnett, who completed the most passes and did a great job of tip-toeing around a first-half yellow and keeping Orlando off the scoresheet. And lastly, a special shoutout goes to Carter, who had plenty of 1-v-1 battles with Marta and managed to keep the Brazilian legend as quiet as she possibly could.

This win sets up the Championship Game against the Washington Spirit this coming Saturday at PayPal Park in San Jose, California. While Gotham has played well against the Spirit in 2025, notably winning 3-0 in D.C. earlier this season, both teams have gone through plenty of changes since then.

This match will also be the 44th meeting between Gotham FC and Washington in all competitions, surpassing Portland Thorns FC vs Seattle Reign FC as the most-played fixture between two NWSL teams. Many people laughed at the whole "rivalry" thing the league was seemingly pushing really hard earlier this year. However, if the game ends up being at all chippy or entertaining, many fans who laughed at the league may have to give them credit instead.