Team News: Berger, Lavelle Return to Starting XI for Challenge Cup

Gotham FC returns to action following the league’s summer break for the NWSL Challenge Cup, presented by e.l.f., with veteran goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger and Ohio’s own Rose Lavelle back in the starting lineup as the club faces the Kansas City Current at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field at 8 p.m. ET.

Berger and Lavelle are two of three changes to the starting XI selected by head coach Juan Carlos Amorós following Gotham FC’s 1-0 NWSL regular season victory over the Houston Dash on May 31. U.S. Women’s National Team defender Emily Sonnett also returns to the lineup, replacing Midge Purce, while Jess Carter shifts to right back.

Gotham FC, facing Kansas City in a trophy match for the second time in three seasons, enters Friday night riding a six-match unbeaten streak in NWSL regular-season play while only conceding a league-low five goals. The club’s eight shutouts through 11 regular-season matches set a new NWSL record. Gotham FC is chasing its first NWSL Challenge Cup title and fourth trophy since the start of the 2023 season.

Prime Video will carry the national broadcast.

Berger makes her first Gotham FC appearance since sustaining an abdomen injury during the 2025-26 Concacaf W Champions Cup semifinal against Club América on May 20. The German national has been in net for seven shutouts of her 10 NWSL starts this year, already tied for the fourth-most clean sheets in a single season in club history.

Defensively, Sonnett returns as center back alongside captain Tierna Davidson, with Carter and Guro Reiten on the flanks. Davidson notched her first NWSL regular season assist in the May win against Houston, recording a goal and/or assist in consecutive games for the first time in her career.

Lavelle slots into a familiar role in the midfield for her first start since May 3 after recovering from a hamstring injury. She joins Jaelin Howell and Savannah McCaskill, who have anchored Gotham’s midfield throughout the year. Lavelle currently has 16 Gotham FC goals in all NWSL competitions, fifth-most in club history, and enters the match leading the team in shots this season (22). Howell returns to ScottsMiracle-Gro Field for the first time since April 2022, where she scored her first international goal with the USWNT against Uzbekistan.

Spanish striker Esther González and wingers Jordynn Dudley and Jaedyn Shaw make their seventh consecutive start together up front. González is tied for the club record for goals in all competitions with Sam Kerr, with 28 ahead of Friday’s showdown. Shaw is one of four players in Challenge Cup history to score as a teenager, and the 21-year-old has recorded four goals for the club this season. Dudley, who scored the game-winner against Houston, has four goal contributions this regular season (two goals, two assists).

Defender Mandy Freeman is available off the bench for the first time this season after a lower leg injury sidelined her before the 2026 campaign. Goalkeeper Shelby Hogan; midfielders Sofia Cook, Sarah Schupansky and Talia Sommer; and forwards Khyah Harper, Andrea Kitahata, Katie Lampson and Midge Purce make the rest of the substitutes.

Defender Bruninha (hamstring) remains out per the player availability report. Defender Kayla Duran (knee) and midfielder Taryn Torres (knee) are both on the season-ending injury list.

Gotham FC lineup vs. Kansas City Current

30 – Ann-Katrin Berger (GK)

27 – Jess Carter

6 – Emily Sonnett

15 – Tierna Davidson (c)

18 – Guro Reiten

7 – Jaelin Howell

13 – Savannah McCaskill

16 – Rose Lavelle

2 – Jordynn Dudley

9 – Esther González

10 – Jaedyn Shaw

Substitutes: 1 – Shelby Hogan, 11 – Sarah Schupansky, 14 – Talia Sommer, 21 – Sofia Cook, 22 – Mandy Freeman, 23 – Midge Purce, 24 – Andrea Kitahata, 28 – Katie Lampson, 34 – Khyah Harper