HARRISON, NJÂ – NJ/NY Gotham FC fell to the Washington Spirit 2-0 on Sunday night at Red Bull Arena. With the loss, the club’s unbeaten streak comes to a close at nine games, which was the second-longest streak in club history.
The two East Coast teams split some chances early, with Gotham FC having the first clear opportunity just three minutes into the match. After keeping possession in the attacking third, forward Katie Stengel switched the ball to defender Mandy Freeman at the other side of the box, where she had an open look that sailed just over the crossbar.
A few minutes later, in the seventh minute, midfielder Yazmeen Ryan slipped a ball behind the Spirit’s backline to Stengel. The forward had a one-on-one opportunity, but could not find the back of the net.
In the 26th minute of the match, the Spirit took the lead. Rookie forward Croix Bethune passed to an open Courtney Brown, who found the back of the net.
Later in stoppage time of the first half, Gotham FC went down to ten players for the remainder of the match. Despite the one-goal deficit at the half, Gotham FC led Washington in shots (6-2), shots on goal (2-1), and ball possession (55%-45%).
The Spirit quickly capitalized in the second half, with Washington scoring its second goal in the 47th minute. Forward Trinity Rodman found the back of the net with a strike just inside the box.
Gotham FC continued to push forward despite being down two goals, as the club continued to maintain possession and build out of the back. After ten minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle blew, and Gotham FC fell to the Spirit with a score of 2-0.
Gotham FC will return home to Red Bull Arena to host the Seattle Reign on Sunday, June 30, with kickoff set for 1:00 pm ET (ESPN2).
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Key Match Notes
- Gotham FC’s unbeaten streak ends at nine games, the second-longest in club history.
- Gotham FC’s winning streak ends at five games, the second-longest in club history.
- Forward Katie Stengel went over 100 shots for her regular season career (101), finishing with three shots, two on goal. She also took ten touches in Washington’s 18-yard box, tied for the 3rd-most in her career.
- Midfielder Nealy Martin completed 26 of 28 passing attempts.
- Defender Jenna Nighswonger won possession ten times tonight, a season-high and one short of her career high.
- Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger made 5 saves, 1 short of her career high.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Juan Carlos Amorós
On what was said to Yazmeen Ryan after the red card…
I will have to take a look at the play specifically, I haven’t had the time to look into it. It’s the same with everyone, if she’s made a mistake, she needs to learn from it, and take responsibility. I have to see the play, but we are a team, I say it all the time when something doesn’t go right, it is not only one player, everyone has a job to do. She needs to trust herself and keep growing. I think she’s been fantastic. This season is even better than it was last year. We just need to learn from those moments and make sure they don’t happen again and grow from them.
What were the unique challenges like today with the time change and the heat…
We prepared the best we could. We had to recover after our midweek game, which is also a condition because the opposition didn’t have that challenge. We prepared and wanted it to be very organized defensively, to dominate the ball. We know if we dominate the ball, then the other team is going to run more than us. I think we did that when we had 11 versus 11, and then we had to dig deep and play 10 versus 11. I think the fact that we went out, and the first chance they scored a fantastic goal. From there, it’s easy to put your arms down and lose the game 4-0. The players fought till the last whistle. If we got that penalty, those last 10 min would have been very different, but it is what it is. We have to move on to the next one.
Gotham FC Defender Tierna Davidson
On regrouping after a three-game week…
I think just emotionally regrouping. We have a few days off after a very long week with the three-game week. I think everyone is taking that time to recharge mentally, physically, and emotionally, and ready to come back and kind of just keep rolling. That’s the nature of the game, the nature of the season. It’s a very long season, and no matter the results we have, whether losses, we have to turn the focus to the next game. And you know, quite frankly, I think we can take a lot from this game in terms of positives of the way we’re playing, especially in the first half and the fight that we had in the second half.
On playing down a player in the second half…
We would have loved a chance to be on even ground to get back a goal. I think that it’s tough when you lose a player, and you’re trying to bounce back from a goal down. But you know it’s a challenge for us. And I think, as I said, the season is long, and throughout the season, you have different challenges. Whether it’s players going down injured, or being down a man for a half, or battling back from a goal down. So I think it was a good experience for us to have and an important experience for us to take the good from it and leave behind the bad.
Gotham FC Midfielder Nealy Martin
On the teams’ reaction to going down to ten in the game…
Our team is really resilient. We’ve proved that time and time again. We can only control what we can control. So we immediately shifted our focus to the second half and what we could do tactically to adjust.
On the teams’ chemistry after a loss…
Our team always comes together. We do have great chemistry. And I mean, our response to this is gonna even speak more to our chemistry and what we’re building here. So I’m excited for the next game to see the team’s reaction.
MATCH SUMMARY
Gotham FC vs Washington Spirit
June 23, 2024 – Red Bull Arena
Goals by Half 1 2 F
Washington Spirit 1 1 2
Gotham FC 0 0 0
Scoring Summary:
WSH: Courtney Brown (Croix Bethune) 27′, Trinity Rodman (Casey Krueger) 47′
Misconduct Summary:
GFC: YC: Nealy Martin (35′), Crystal Dunn (86′) RC: Yazmeen Ryan (45+9′)
WSH: YC: Ouleymata Sarr (15′), Kate Wiesner (78′)
Lineups:
GFC: Ann-Katrin Berger, Jenna Nighswonger, Tierna Davidson, Emily Sonnett, Mandy Freeman (Maycee Bell 86′), Rose Lavelle (Taryn Torres 61′), Nealy Martin (McCall Zerboni 61′), Delanie Sheehan (Ella Stevens 86′), Yazmeen Ryan, Katie Stengel, Crystal Dunn (Bruninha 86′)
WSH: Aubrey Kingsbury, Casey Krueger, Annaïg Butel, Tara McKeown, Gabrielle Carle, Hal Hershfelt, Andi Sullivan (Paige Metayer 65′), Courtney Brown (Kate Wiesner 75′), Croix Bethune, Trinity Rodman (Brittany Ratcliffe 75′), Ouleymata Sarr (Ashley Hatch 65′)
