Gotham FC Falls to Orlando Pride on Home Opener

Gotham FC lost a frustrating 2-0 decision in its home opener at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Sunday evening, falling to the reigning NWSL Shield and championship winners Orlando Pride in front of the best-selling regular season home opener in club history.

Orlando opened the scoring in the second minute on a Gotham own goal and doubled its lead in first-half stoppage time through captain Marta’s penalty conversion

“One [of the positive takeaways] is the personality and character of the team, because it was very difficult to come back after conceding a goal,” Gotham FC coach Juan Carlos Amorós said. “You can start having doubts on the game plan, on how we play and what we want to do. They believed in [our approach], and they [executed it well]. The other positive is that we played against the reigning champion, and we were able to control in every aspect of the game and it was on our side. But this is football. You get the points for scoring goals, but at the end of the day, if you [perform the way we did] in most of the games, then you win most of the games.”

The loss dropped Gotham FC (0-1-1, 1 point) into a tie for ninth place in the very young NWSL standings, but Amorós pointed to a handful of major developmental moments for his team. Forward Khyah Harper made her professional debut, coming on as a substitute in the 75th minute, while defender Lilly Reale earned her first professional start and led all players with nine duels won and five tackles.

Midfielder Jaelin Howell recorded a team-high five shot attempts, the most by any Gotham player in either match this season.

“We're first and foremost disappointed that we did not get the win, but we definitely had some good moments in the game that I think we can build off of,” captain Tierna Davidson said. “It was definitely tough to start the game off conceding a goal so quickly, but proud of the team for how we stuck with it and stayed in the game, and especially in the second half, how we really controlled the game. It's disappointing not to be able to win, not to be able to score, but I think there were a lot of good things to take with us.”

Gotham FC heads back on the road to face the Houston Dash on Friday.

Key Match Points

• Saturday’s match marked Gotham FC’s highest-selling regular-season home opener, drawing an announced attendance of 9,718 at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
• Gotham FC outshot the Orlando Pride 15-6 and finished with a higher expected goals total (1.07 to 1.02).
• Forward Khyah Harper made her professional and club debut, entering as a substitute in the 75th minute.
• Defender Lilly Reale earned her first professional start and led all players with nine duels won and five tackles.
• Midfielder Nealy Martin surpassed 5,000 regular-season minutes played in the NWSL, now totaling 5,036 after Saturday’s match.

Gotham FC vs Orlando Pride

Sunday, March 23, 2025

5 p.m. ET kickoff

Sports Illustrated Stadium, Harrison, NJ

Attendance: 9,730

Weather: Cloudy, 48 degrees

Gotham FC (0,0 0 – 2)

Orlando Pride (2,0 2 – 0)

Scoring summary

Gotham FC

Orlando Pride

2’ - 4 Lilly Reale (Own goal)

45+2’ -10 Marta

Gotham FC: 30 - Ann-Katrin Berger (GK); 27 - Jess Carter (56’ 3 Bruninha), 15 - Tierna Davidson (C), 6 - Emily Sonnett, 4 - Lily Reale, 14 - Nealy Martin (56’ 8 Taryn Torres), 13 - Ella Stevens, 7 - Jaelin Howell, 11 - Sarah Schupansky (75’ 34 - Khyah Harper); 18 - Gabi Portilho (81’ 5 Cece Kizer), 9 - Esther González

Head coach: Juan Carlos Amorós

Orlando Pride:

1 - Anna Moorhouse (GK); 6 - Emily Sams, 3 - Kylie Nadaner, 4 - Rafaelle (46’ 12 Coriana Dyke), 25 - Kerry Abello; 11 - Ally Watt (78’ 28 Summer Yates), 16 - Morgan Gautrat (61’ 9 Prisca Chilufya) 2 - Haley McCutcheon, 15 - Angelina (88’ 34 Zara Chavoshi), 10 - Marta (79’ 30 Ally Lemos); 22 - Barbra Banda

Head coach: Seb Hines

Stats Summary

GFC / ORL

Shots: 15 / 6

Shots on Goal: 4 / 4

Saves: 3 / 4

Corner Kicks: 6 / 2

Fouls: 9 / 12

Offside: 1 / 3

Misconduct Summary:

Gotham FC

44’ Jess Carter - (yellow card - reckless offense)

70’ Ella Stevens - (yellow card - tactical foul)

Orlando Pride

7’ Ally Watt - (yellow card - dissent)

Officials

Referee: Brad Jensen

Assistant Referee 1: Jennifer Garner

Assistant Referee 2: Zeno Cho

4th Official: Ryan Homik

VAR: Tom Felice

AVAR: Elijio Arreguin