Through the regular season's ups and downs, ups and downs, injuries, and glimpses of what Gotham FC's complete lineup could accomplish, Delaney Sheehan was one constant.
She played in all 26 NWSL games. She had the second longest time. While Sheehan wasn't a splashy offseason acquisition, the midfielder has been with Gotham since 2021 before winning a title and establishing a superteam, but he still played a key role in their operation.
However, in the opening round of the playoffs, Sheehan did not feature until the 90th minute, when the score was tied at 1 on Sunday, when he was replaced by Lynn Williams.
After just seven minutes, Gotham's possession finally turned to her, and after Sheehan maneuvered the ball past two Portland defenders, she sent the ball to Rose Lovell, who converted. I watched.
“Delaney did all the heavy lifting there,” said LaBelle, one of the splashy offseason acquisitions. “He put it on a platter for me.”
A year after Gotham FC's Cinderella run ended with a title, they were about to experience the flip side of playoff legend.
A record-setting regular season that may end sooner than expected. The spectacle of the team's first home playoff game, which drew a historic crowd to Red Bull Arena, could end in heartbreak.
And LaBelle ensured the quest for a rematch remained intact, scoring the equalizer seven minutes into stoppage time to give Gotham a 2-1 victory over the Portland Thorns and a semifinal matchup against the second-seeded Washington Spirit. The showdown was set up. Saturday.
“Last year was great, full of great people and winners, and we were able to win,” head coach Juan Carlos Amoros said. “Honestly, it’s been a great year, full of great people and winners, and we’re two games away from getting that ring again.”
In a sense, it was poetic that LaBelle scored the winning goal. She headlined Gotham's offseason marquee signings, along with Teanna Davidson and Emily Sonnette, which cracked into the playoff field as a No. 6 seed last season and won three straight. It was simply added to the roster from which the title was taken away. And maybe the Gotham director wouldn't have scripted it at all like the 67-minute development where LaBelle starts the sequence that ends with a goal and Davidson wraps it up.
But when they built their new roster, they had moments like this in mind: the 67th minute of a scoreless postseason game.
Lavelle started with a set piece and sent the ball towards the net. Then Davidson, who had just one goal in his NWSL career and played for the first time since Oct. 12 due to a thigh injury, tapped the ball with his foot, weaved through traffic and took a left-footed shot. .
“Especially as a defender, when I get up close to goal on a set piece, I try to have a positive influence on the play,” Davidson said. “And I think the only thing that was on my mind was to get it in frame. That was always my main goal as a defender defending set-pieces, that's what causes the most confusion. And luckily it meant a goal on target.”
But just eight minutes later, Portland tied the game. They beat Gotham's defense (one of the best in the NWSL during the regular season) when Raelynn Turner headed the ball into the goal. Gotham controlled most possession early in the first half, but struggled to convert strong ball movement and potential scoring chances into shots until Davidson broke through. Portland blocked some. Others went wide.
At the end of the first half, it looked as though the score was 1-0, but a review ruled it offside and Sophia Smith's goal was overturned. Then Davidson gave Gotham the lead in the second half. LaBelle then energized the 15,540 fans in attendance in hopes of making another run in the postseason.
Gotham almost ran into what can happen in a chaotic one-game format. Instead, they did just enough to survive.
