Gotham FC Stuns Seattle with Furious Late Comeback Win

Esther González scored a late brace and Rose Lavelle smacked in the stoppage-time winner to propel Gotham FC past the visiting Seattle Reign FC 3-2 on Saturday in one of the most dramatic comeback wins in club history.

It was the first time Gotham FC has rallied from a two-goal deficit to win in nine years, and the victory at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in Manhattan pushed Gotham FC (9-3-3, 30 points) into first place in the NWSL standings at the halfway mark of the 2026 regular season.

That it came after a two-and-a-half-hour weather delay, three days after a historic and taxing rivalry win at Citi Field and after Seattle’s two-goal first half made it “extremely remarkable,” said Gotham FC coach Juan Carlos Amorós.

“Honestly I’m at a loss for words for the players and the staff behind the scenes,” Amorós said. “Today we already had a big mountain to climb, but the mountain from the moment the players arrived at 9 a.m. got bigger and bigger. … These players never give up. Everyone on the pitch kept fighting and pushing. They want to be champions. They want to win.”

The game was originally scheduled for 12 p.m. Saturday, perilous as that time seemed in the face of oncoming thunderstorms. Lightning disrupted pregame warmups, prompting the lengthy delay.

What kicked off at 2:35 p.m. was a rain-soaked game marked by a sloppy start. Seattle (5-7-2, 17 points) jumped on the opportunity, converting a penalty from Mia Fishel in the 14th minute and landing a second blow from Maddie Mercado eight minutes later.

Gotham FC clicked on in the second half, peppering Seattle with 13 shots and generating 2.13 expected goals, out-touching Seattle 39-6 in each other’s boxes. González hit the woodwork 20 seconds before her first goal, a knocked-in close-range finish from a Jaedyn Shaw back-post cross.

That goal, in the 81st minute, turned on the faucet. González scored her second four minutes into stoppage, again assisted by Shaw, who now has three for the year.

It all set up Lavelle’s late heroics. Substitute Sam Kerr carried into the penalty area eight minutes into stoppage, and the ball found the onrushing Lavelle, whose left-footed curler beat Seattle goalkeeper Cassie Miller and brought on a chaotic-albeit-exhausted celebration.

Gotham FC now gets some much-needed rest before its Friday road match at fourth-place Portland.

Key Match Points

• Gotham FC rallied from two goals down at halftime to win in the regular season for the first time since August 19, 2017, against Seattle, when Sam Kerr scored four goals in a 5-4 victory.
• The victory was only the third win in 36 games in regular season club history when trailing by two or more goals at the half.
• There were three Gotham FC goals scored from the 81st minute on after only scoring one goal after the 57th minute previously this season.
• Forward Esther González scored her fifth and sixth goal of the 2026 NWSL regular season with two late second-half strikes.
  • The two goals moved González past forward Sam Kerr for the most regular season goals in Gotham FC history, giving her 30 and surpassing Kerr's 28.
  • González also recorded her ninth regular season brace, tying Megan Rapinoe (Seattle) for most for one club and moving one behind current teammate Ker’s league record of 10.
  • She extended her club record to 33 goals across all NWSL competitions for Gotham FC.
  • She earned her 34th and 35th regular season goal or assist for the club and is now tied with Kerr for the Gotham FC record.
  • She now has 38 goals or assists in all NWSL competitions, breaking a tie with Midge Purce (36) for the club record,.
• Midfielder Rose Lavelle made her 50th NWSL regular season appearance for Gotham FC and notched her 16th Gotham FC regular season goal, tying Carli Lloyd for fourth in club history.
  • She scored her 18th Gotham FC all NWSL competitions goal, tying Lloyd for fourth in club history.
  • Lavelle scored the game-winner for the second game in a row and the ninth of her regular season career.
    • Her sixth Gotham FC regular season game-winner ties her for fifth in club history.
• Forward Sam Kerr reached 10,000 NWSL regular season minutes, finishing the match with 10,021 minutes played.
  • Kerr also assisted Lavelle’s game-winner, her 25th regular season asist, the 12th player in league history to reach that number.
  • The assist was her fourth game-winning assist, tying Ifeoma Onumonu’s club record.
  • She picked up her 12th career regular season-gaming winning assist, tying Crystal Dunn for second in league history behind Sofia Huerta’s 17.
• Midfielder Jaedyn Shaw recorded her eighth and ninth regular season assists and her third and fourth for Gotham FC, her first multi-assist game of her career.
• Forward Midge Purce made her 80th regular season appearance for Gotham FC, tying Kailen Sheridan for seventh in club history.
• Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berg picked up her 33rd goalkeeper win, tying Kailen Sheridan (San Diego) for eighth-most for a club.
• Defender Mandy Freeman made her 92nd NWSL regular season start, passing Erica Skroski for the second-most starts in club history.
  • Freeman also made her club-record 121st NWSL regular season appearance, extending her lead atop Gotham FC's all-time list.
  • She broke Sarah Woldmoe’s club record of 10,064 minutes in all NWSL competitions, finishing the match with 10,092 minutes.

Gotham FC vs. Seattle Reign FC

Saturday, July 18, 2026

2:35 p.m. ET kickoff - delayed two hours, 35 minutes due to weather

Icahn Stadium, New York

Attendance: 4,738

Weather: 78 degrees, stormy

Gotham FC (0, 3 – 3)

Seattle Reign FC (2, 0 – 2)

Scoring Summary

Gotham FC

81’ - Esther González (Jaedyn Shaw)

90’+4 - Esther González (Jaedyn Shaw)

90’+7 - Rose Lavelle (Sam Kerr)

Seattle Reign FC

14’ - Mia Fishel (P)

22’ - Maddie Mercado (Maddie Dahlien)

Gotham FC (4-3-3): 30 – Ann-Katrin Berger (GK); 22 – Mandy Freeman (46’ 18 – Guro Reiten), 6 – Emily Sonnett, 15 – Tierna Davidson (C), 27 – Jess Carter (46’ 9 – Esther González); 7 – Jaelin Howell (82’ 5 – Denise O’Sullivan), 13 – Savannah McCaskill (63 3 – Bruninha), 11 – Sarah Schupansky (63 ‘ 20 – Sam Kerr), 23 – Midge Purce, 10 – Jaedyn Shaw, 16 – Rose Lavelle

Unused substitutes: 1 – Shelby Hogan (GK), 21 – Sofia Cook, 24 – Andrea Kitahata, 34 – Khyah Harper

Head coach: Juan Carlos Amorós

Seattle Reign FC (4-3-3): 38 – Cassie Miller (GK); 22 – Ryanne Brown (69’ 12 – Holly Ward), 14 – Emily Mason, 21 – Phoebe McClernon (C), 23 – Jordyn Bugg; 20 – Samantha Meza, 16 – Ainsley McCammon, 17 – Sally Menti (69’ 30 – Nérilia Mondésir,); 2 – Maddie Mercado (90’ 33 – Ruby Hladek), 19 – Mia Fischel (84’ 10 – Jess Fishlock), 5 – Maddie Dahlien (84’ 13 – Brittany Ratcliffe)

Unused substitutes: 1 – Claudia Dickey (GK); 7 – Emeri Adames, 8 – Angharad James-Turner, 36 – Ana-Sofia Cedeno

Head coach: Laura Harvey

Stats Summary

GFC / SEA

Expected Goals: 2.31 / 2.30

Shots: 18 / 9

Shots on Goal: 9 / 2

Saves: 0 / 6

Corners: 4 / 1

Fouls: 19 / 10

Offside: 0 / 2

Misconduct Summary

Gotham FC

12’ - Mandy Freeman (Yellow Card - Tactical Foul)

Seattle Reign FC

45’ - Samantha Meza (Yellow Card - Reckless Offense)

Officials

Referee: Calin Radosav

Assistant Referee 1: Sharon Gingrich

Assistant Referee 2: Adam Cook

4th Official: Marie Durr

VAR: Shawn Tehini

AVAR: Melissa Gonzalez