Players to watch:
Gotham FC goalkeeper tandem Michelle Betos (one) and Ashlyn Harris (two) have combined for three clean sheets on the year thus far, including two in their last three games—both of which were wins. In the goals department, forward Margaret Purce leads the way with two tallies while also heading up the assists category with a pair of those as well.
San Diego forward Alex Morgan scored her side’s lone goal in its 1-1 draw with OL Reign on Sunday, taking her total to nine on the season, three clear of any challengers. Morgan is just the second player in NWSL history to score nine goals in her first nine appearances of the season, joining Sam Kerr, who did so with Chicago in 2019. Elsewhere, midfielder Taylor Kornieck has chipped in a pair of goals as well, with Morgan and Kornieck standing as the team’s only multi-goal scorers of the year so far.
Match facts: Gotham FC welcomes San Diego Wave FC to Red Bull Arena on Sunday afternoon in front of a nationally televised audience on CBS, with the hosts looking to bounce back from a loss that followed two straight wins, while the Wave are running three games without a loss and will look to continue that vein of form.
Interestingly, Gotham FC’s last four matches have all ended 1-0 with two of those wins and two losses. Only two teams in NWSL history have played more consecutive games with fewer than two combined goals: Houston in 2016 (6 straight) and OL Reign from May to June this year (5).
On the flip side, after winning four of their first five NWSL regular season matches, San Diego is winless in four straight (D3 L1), though the last three have all ended in draws. San Diego’s two losses in its first nine games equals the fewest by a non-original NWSL team in an inaugural season (Utah – 2 in 2018).
This will be the second NWSL meeting between Gotham FC and San Diego after the Wave won, 4-0, at home on May 7. That win is San Diego’s only multi-goal victory in the regular season while two-thirds of the six goals Gotham has conceded in the regular season were in that match.
