Red Bull Arena | Harrison, New Jersey – Wednesday, April 19 at 7:30 PM ET
Players to watch:
Gotham forward Midge Purce is her side’s all-time leading scorer in the Challenge Cup with three goals scored. Purce also notched the only brace in Gotham’s Challenge Cup history with a two-goal performance against the Courage in 2021. In the regular season’s three games played, Purce’s two goals have her tied atop her team’s scoring charts alongside teammate and newcomer Lynn Williams, though Purce registered the assist on both of those goals.
No player has scored more goals in a single Challenge Cup than Washington forward Ashley Hatch, who scored six in the 2022 edition. Hatch has 26 career shots on target in Challenge Cup play, the most of any player in the competition’s history. Already through three regular season games, Hatch has three goals on seven shots with teammate Trinity Rodman (2) the only other player to have scored a goal this season.
Match facts: Gotham FC hosts the Washington Spirit on Wednesday night at Red Bull Arena looking to avenge a 3-1 loss in the same place 367 days prior in the 2022 Challenge Cup, which saw Washington end up reaching the final. Now, Gotham enter having won two of their first three regular season games, while the Spirit are off to their best start in club history remaining unbeaten through their first three games in a stretch that also includes two wins.
Gotham won just one game in the 2022 Challenge Cup group stage, a 1-0 win against Orlando in which Midge Purce secured the points with an 83rd minute winner. That was the peak of its Challenge Cup performances, though, as they finished third in their group with six points from six games. In addition, the club scored just five goals in the competition, the second fewest of any team (Orlando – 4). However, so far this year, Gotham have shown what they are capable of in the regular season with wins over Angel City and Orlando and a lone loss against OL Reign against their record. Most recently, both Purce and Williams scored late for Gotham to secure a 2-0 win against Orlando, their first shutout of the year.
Meanwhile, Washington has collected wins against OL Reign and the North Carolina Courage with their only other game of the year coming in the form of an entertaining 2-2 draw against Racing Louisville FC. Ashley Hatch and Trinity Rodman are the only players to have scored for the Spirit thus far, with Hatch contributing three in addition to Rodman’s two to help their form so far. The Spirit have scored 20 all-time goals in Challenge Cup play, which is the second most of any team in the competition’s history (North Carolina – 32). Last season, Washington notched 12 goals in the group stage, tied with the Courage for the most of any team.
Since the beginning of the 2018 season, Washington has shut out Gotham FC in nine of their 16 meetings in all NWSL competitions. The Spirit have seven wins in that time (D6 L3) including victories in both the last league and Challenge Cup match in the fixture.
