Gotham FC Lands Critical Road Win at Orlando

Esther González reclaimed the NWSL golden boot lead, Rose Lavelle registered her first assist of the season and Jaelin Howell battered in a screaming volley to deliver a vital 2-0 Gotham FC win at Orlando on Friday night at Inter&Co Stadium.

It was a therapeutic victory in a variety of ways for the visitors, avenging the home loss to Orlando earlier this season while snapping a four-match winless stretch that stunted Gotham’s start to the second half of the campaign.

“It's massive for us,” Gotham FC coach Juan Carlos Amorós said. “This group of players really deserves something like that tonight. It's not been an easy period because you play certain games, you deserve certain results. You don't get them, and then you have to come to the home of the champions to show that you keep believing in what you do, to play in the way we play. The players were fantastic.”

Gotham FC (6-6-6, 24 points) set the pace for eighth place in the NWSL standings with the win, moving three points ahead of its primary challenger – the North Carolina Courage – ahead of Saturday’s Courage matchup at first-place Kansas City. With seventh-place Racing Louisville drawing earlier Friday evening, the gap between Louisville and Gotham diminished to just two points with eight games left in their seasons.

To find a much-needed confidence boost, Gotham FC turned to its superstars to deliver the breakthrough moment in the 13th minute. Nice combination play down the right flank between Brazilians Bruninha and Gabi Portilho eventually centered the ball for Lavelle, who poked a through ball to González on the edge of the penalty area. The Spaniard took two touches to her left before hooking a lofted shot back to her right and past Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse.

In scoring her 12th goal, González is just five away from tying Sam Kerr’s club record for goals in a single season (17). Gotham FC is now 14-2-2 in games when González scores.

Howell provided the exclamation point a minute into first-half stoppage time, blasting a left-footed volley from 20 yards out to beat Moorhouse to her near post. It was Howell’s second goal of the season and immediately became a contender for the team’s goal of the year.

The shutout was Ann-Katrin Berger’s seventh solo clean sheet this season and eighth total for the team. The German goalkeeper stood tall in the second half, amassing three saves and three clearances in the win.

Gotham FC now shifts its focus back to the Concacaf W Champions Cup, traveling to El Salvador to face Alianza on Tuesday night. Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. ET, with coverage on Paramount+.

Key Match Points

• Midfielder Rose Lavelle wore the captain’s armband for the first time in her NWSL career.
  • Lavelle recorded her first assist of the 2025 season and her first since Aug. 24, 2024.
• Forward Esther González reclaimed the NWSL Golden Boot lead with her 12th goal of the regular season, opening the scoring in the 13th minute.
  • Lavelle assisted on González’s goal, marking the first time she has set up a goal for the Spanish forward.
  • González has scored in all six of Gotham FC’s regular-season wins this season.
  • Gotham FC is 14-2-2 in games dating to 2023 when González scores.
• Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger set a new club record with her 15th career clean sheet, surpassing Brittany Cameron and Kailen Sheridan.
  • Berger has allowed the fewest goals in her first 40 starts of any goalkeeper in NWSL history (minimum 40 starts), with 32. She surpassed Bella Bixby, who previously held the mark with 33.
• Midfielder Jaelin Howell scored her second career regular-season goal.
• Midfielder Josefine Hasbo made her first NWSL regular-season start.
• Gotham improved to 5-1-2 when scoring the opening goal in league play this season and 4-0-2 when scoring first on the road.

Gotham FC at Orlando Pride

Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

8 p.m. ET kickoff

Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Florida

Attendance: 7,132

Weather: 80 degrees, cloudy

Gotham FC (2, 0 – 2)

Orlando Pride (0, 0 – 0)

Scoring Summary

Gotham FC

13’ - Esther González (Rose Lavelle)

45+1’ - Jaelin Howell

Gotham FC (4-3-3): 30 – Ann-Katrin Berger (GK); 3 – Bruninha (68’ 22 – Mandy Freeman), 6 – Emily Sonnett, 27 – Jess Carter, 4 – Lilly Reale; 7 – Jaelin Howell, 16 – Rose Lavelle (C) (68’ 23 – Midge Purce), 5 – Josefine Hasbo; 18 – Gabi Portilho (83’ 14 – Nealy Martin), 9 – Esther González, 10 – Geyse (54’ 28 – Katie Stengel)

Unused substitutes: 1 – Shelby Hogan (GK); 8 – Taryn Torres, 11 – Sarah Schupansky, 19 – Kayla Duran, 21 – Sofia Cook

Head coach: Juan Carlos Amorós

Orlando Pride (4-3-3): 1 – Anna Moorhouse (GK); 6 – Emily Sams, 4 – Rafaelle (71’ 21 – Oihane), 3 – Kylie Nadaner, 25 – Kerry Abello (46’ 18 – Simone Charley); 2 – Haley McCutcheon, 15 – Angelina (28’ 19 – Carson Pickett), 30 – Ally Lemos; 11 – Ally Watt (71’ 28 – Summer Yates), 9 – Prisca Chilufya (60’ 35 – Simone Jackson), 10 – Marta (C)

Unused substitutes: 40 – McKinley Crone (GK); 12 – Cori Dyke, 14 – Viviana Villacorta, 20 – Julie Doyle

Head coach: Seb Hines

Stats Summary

GFC / ORL

Expected Goals: 1.54 / 1.15

Shots: 9 / 12

Shots on Goal: 4 / 3

Saves: 3 / 2

Corners: 1 / 8

Fouls: 15 / 15

Offside: 3 / 0

Misconduct Summary:

Gotham FC

45+3’ - 18 – Gabi Portilho (Yellow Card - Reckless Offense)

76’ - Juan Carlos Amorós (Yellow Card - Dissent)

90+3’ - Emily Sonnett (Yellow Card - Tactical Foul)

Orlando Pride

22’ - 4 – Rafaelle (Yellow Card - Tactical Foul)

Officials

Referee: Matthew Corrigan

Assistant Referee 1: Ben Rigel

Assistant Referee 2: Melissa Gonzalez

4th Official: JJ Bilinski

VAR: Shawn Tehini

AVAR: Tony Obas