There’s a reason Gotham FC has the most players of any club team heading to the 2024 Paris Olympics, with six.
And they further proved that point on Sunday afternoon against Seattle Reign FC, dominating the match for 98 minutes at Red Bull Arena.
However, in the 99th minute, Laing scored an own goal from a set piece to tie the score at 1-1.
“These things happen when you’re leading by just zero points,” Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amoros said.
Tianna Davidson, Crystal Dunn, Rose Lavelle, Jenna Neiswonger and Emily Sonnett were named to the final roster of the U.S. women’s national team on Wednesday.
Additionally, NWSL all-time leading scorer Lynn Williams (79 career goals) was named an alternate.
The last time the two clubs met was in the 2023 championship, when Gotham shocked the NWSL world.
They were the sixth seed and the last team to qualify for the postseason, but advanced to the finals with a 2-1 win over the Reign.
Last season, the Reign had Lavelle, Sonnett and Sam Hyatt, who all scored in the title game, but all three transferred to Gotham during the offseason.
In the rematch, Gotham won in a landslide victory.
“Our high press on defense brings a lot of excitement to the game and creates a lot of chances for us,” Nyswonger said. “That’s one of the reasons we’ve been so successful this season.”
Gotham (8-3-4) used pressure moves to thwart Reign’s attack from the start.
The Reign (2-9-4) tried to play Ziara King and Ji So-yun on the right wing, but Nyswonger and company thwarted them.
Gotham had 64 percent of the ball possession through the first 20 minutes of the game.
Despite their efforts, they failed to score a goal in the first half.
At halftime, Amoros had a simple message for his team.
“We just had to find the gaps with the extra guys,” Amoros said. “We just had to get the final pieces a little better.”
And that’s exactly what they did.
Just two minutes into the second half, Nyswonger found the ball on the left wing near midfield, where there was space and time.
She scanned the field gracefully and sent a perfect through pass to Ella Stevens.
She received the ball on the wing and pulled Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey off her line.
Stevens then found Lovell near the penalty spot, who slotted home an easy goal.
“In the second half we brought a lot more energy,” Nyswonger said, “and that’s one of the reasons we scored the goals.”
Unfortunately for Gotham, this was a deciding factor late in the game.
Quinn took a free kick on the left wing near midfield in the 99th minute and floated the ball into the middle of the penalty area.
Reign’s Veronica Lacko battled Gotham’s Neely Martin in the air while trying to get on his head.
But Quinn’s ball went just wide of Laczko and Martin tried to clear the ball wide but instead it floated over the head of Ann-Katrin Berger, who had an outstretched hand.
The final whistle blew shortly after the game resumed.
Gotham took 15 shots but only managed one goal, failing to win the game.
“We still need to win games, we need to score more goals and take advantage of our chances,” Williams said. “The longer we can make them make plays and feel like they’re in the game, the more things like tonight happen.”
