NWSL Championship score: Gotham FC top Washington Spirit on Lavelle winner

Gotham FC won their second NWSL Championship on Saturday, with star midfielder Rose Lavelle coming up with an impressive late goal to seal a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit at San Jose’s PayPal Park.

Lavelle scored the latest opening goal in the history of the NWSL Championship, the game’s lone goal coming in the 80th minute of a closely contested match. Gotham were hanging out in and around the Spirit’s penalty area and Lavelle made a darting run towards the area, hitting it hard on the edge of the penalty area and sending the ball flying into the back of the net.

Lavelle’s strike was a fitting game-winner on a day where both teams were defensively solid and lacked a little bit of quality in attack, in total generating just 0.88 expected goals collectively from a combined 19 shots. The match was crying out for a star to change the game, Lavelle doing just that with her strike and winning her first NWSL Championship in the process.

The game’s lone goal, though, was marred by Spirit head coach Adrian Gonzalez’s decision not to take midfielder Hal Hershfelt off the field minutes earlier. The 24-year-old had taken a hard hit in a collision with Lavelle a few minutes before the ball, receiving medical attention on the field and then on the sideline. She seemed far from her best as she geared up to return to the game, but Gonzalez surprised many by letting her return to the field despite running awkwardly and visibly playing with pain. She came off shortly after the goal, clearly emotional after the event.

Her star shone brightly on a day where the focus was fixed on Trinity Rodman, who came off the bench and played 33 minutes in what was eventually an unsuccessful outing for the Spirit. Rodman was unable to add much to a game where Gotham disrupted the Spirit’s momentum constantly, eventually limiting the opposition to zero shots on target from seven total attempts. She was also unable to take a shot during her stint on the field and may have picked up an injury in a late collision with Sarah Schupansky, holding her back and in tears in the dying moments of the match.

Rodman’s current deal with the Spirit has now expired, potentially making this her final match in the NWSL. Before the game, Rodman said she had not made a decision on her future and while the Spirit hope to re-sign her, the player has interested parties in England’s Women’s Super League and the USL Super League working on landing her signature.