Gotham FC Announces Leadership Group, Roster Ahead of 2026 Season

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (Mar. 5, 2026) – Gotham FC announced its 2026 leadership group and season roster Thursday as the reigning NWSL and Concacaf champions prepare to defend their domestic and continental titles.

Defender Tierna Davidson is club captain, leading a six-player leadership group that includes Jess Carter, Mandy Freeman, Jaelin Howell, Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett. Gotham’s roster features 26 players, including 21 from last season’s title-winning squad.

The group is leading a team coming off a stellar 2025 season in which Gotham posted a club-record 11 shutouts, allowed a franchise-low 78 shots on goal and lifted its second NWSL Championship trophy. The club also captured the Concacaf W Champions Cup, the first continental title for professional women’s soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Davidson, entering her second season as club captain, anchors a defense that conceded 25 goals in 26 regular-season matches last year and recorded 10 shutouts – a new single-season club record. She is nearing a return to action after a season-ending knee injury last March.

Freeman enters her 10th season as the club’s all-time leader in regular-season appearances (117). Sonnett started all 26 regular-season matches in 2025, logging a club-record 2,339 minutes, while Carter became the first player to win both the UEFA European Championship and NWSL Championship in the same calendar year.

Lavelle and Howell return in midfield. Lavelle recorded five goals and two assists in 16 matches after returning from injury and was named the NWSL Championship MVP and U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year. Howell scored four regular-season goals after previously never scoring, and she finished with five goal contributions while ranking among the league leaders in duels and duels won. They’ll partner with Jaedyn Shaw, whose three postseason goal contributions tied a club record. The 21-year-old U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder will also have a new look in 2026: She’ll wear the No. 10 jersey for Gotham.

Up front, Esther González scored 13 regular-season goals – second-most in the NWSL – tying the league’s single-season record with four braces and becoming the fastest player in club history to reach 10 goals in a season.

Gotham also returns goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, its all-time leader in clean sheets with 18, as well as 2025 NWSL Rookie of the Year and U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year Lilly Reale, who appeared in all 26 regular-season matches.

Sarah Schupansky, who led the club and all NWSL rookies with five assists, is back alongside veteran forwards Midge Purce and Katie Lampson (formerly Stengel). Mainstay defender Bruninha also returns for 2026, while longtime NWSL midfielder Savannah McCaskill is back in New Jersey for a second stint with the club. Newcomers also include three-time All-American Jordynn Dudley as part of a four-player rookie class.

The following is Gotham FC’s 2026 roster:

Goalkeepers: Ann-Katrin Berger (INTL), Ryan Campbell, Shelby Hogan, Teagan Wy

Defenders: Bruninha (INTL), Jess Carter, Tierna Davidson, Kayla Duran, Mandy Freeman, Lilly Reale, Emily Sonnett

Midfielders: Sofia Cook, Jaelin Howell, Rose Lavelle, Savannah McCaskill, Sarah Schupansky, Jaedyn Shaw, Talia Sommer, Taryn Torres (SEI)

Forwards: Jordynn Dudley, Esther González, Khyah Harper, Andrea Kitahata, Katie Lampson, Midge Purce, McKenna Whitham (U18)

Gotham FC will open its 2026 NWSL regular season on March 14 at expansion side Boston Legacy FC before hosting its home opener on March 21 against the North Carolina Courage.