HARRISON — Gotham FC punched its ticket to the 2025 NWSL Playoffs on Sunday afternoon, securing a 2-2 draw against Racing Louisville FC at Sports Illustrated Stadium thanks to a stunning late free kick from Rose Lavelle. The result marked the club’s third consecutive postseason berth, a first in team history, and continued its strong finish to the regular season.
Jaelin Howell opened the scoring in the 16th minute against her former club, rifling a right-footed shot from outside the penalty area that glanced off the inside of the left post and in. It was Howell’s fourth goal of the 2025 campaign and her first since September 7 against Angel City FC. The Bats nearly doubled their lead shortly after when Midge Purce’s effort from close range struck the crossbar, one of 17 total shots for the home side.
Racing Louisville equalized in the 29th minute when Janine Sonis’ shot deflected off Howell and wrong-footed goalkeeper Shelby Hogan. The visitors then pulled ahead midway through the second half, capitalizing on a missed clearance from Jess Carter that allowed Sarah Weber to slot home in the 65th minute.
Lavelle marked her 20th career NWSL regular-season goal in style, producing a moment of brilliance to bring the Bats level. The midfielder bent a free kick from 22 yards out past Racing goalkeeper Jordyn Bloomer and into the near corner, Gotham’s first free-kick goal of the season and Lavelle’s first career goal from a free kick in league play. The strike was also her first overall goal since September 26 against the Portland Thorns.
The draw lifted Gotham to (9-7-9, 36 points), locking in a playoff spot while extending its unbeaten run to three matches. The team has now avoided defeat in its last five NWSL games when scoring first, a streak dating back to mid-August. Sunday’s contest also saw Purce and Emily Sonnett each make their 50th regular season start for the club, with Sonnett reaching her 50th overall Gotham appearance.
HEAD COACH JUAN CARLOS AMORÓS
On Gotham clinching a playoff spot:
“Happy with that, with the final part. Making it to the playoffs is a must. Being Gotham Football Club in such a difficult league, especially over the last three years, shows consistency. I want to give a lot of credit to the players and staff for their effort all year. They’ve had to fight against so many challenges, especially with midweek games and missing key players. Today, they showed resilience. The team deserved to win. The goalkeeper punished us at moments, and we made a few mistakes we need to correct. But the fans, Rose [Lavelle], Kayla [Duran] coming on as a nine, all contributed. It’s been a tough year with injuries, but the team showed incredible effort, and I’m super proud of them.”
MIDFIELDER ROSE LAVELLE
On clinching playoffs:
“Excited to clinch playoffs. It’s not an easy thing to do in this league — there’s so much parity and every game is really hard. So, excited to clinch playoffs. That said, definitely disappointed to come away with a tie. I think it’s a game we controlled a lot of but didn’t finish our chances and let them capitalize on theirs. It’s a little bittersweet — excited about playoffs, but we know we can do better.”
On what she was thinking before the free kick and how it impacts the playoff picture:
“I felt like we were controlling the game and getting into the final third pretty easily, but we were missing that final piece. We knew we just had to capitalize on our chances. With the set piece, it was a matter of waiting to see where the wall was set up and where the keeper stood. It felt like we were going to get one — it wasn’t a matter of if, but when. We wish we could have gotten a third, and that’s something we’ll keep working on in training, making sure we’re clinical. It starts there.”
MIDFIELDER JAELIN HOWELL
On clinching a playoff spot:
“We wanted the three points for a home match. Honestly, I thought we deserved it. The way we played — we just needed to finish our chances — but I thought we dominated the game for the most part.”
On her goal:
“I thought we were possessing well in our attacking half. Anytime Jaedyn Shaw is on the ball, she can thread passes and draws so many defenders. When I saw her on top of the box with the ball, I wanted to put myself in a position to shoot — and they’ve been falling for me recently, so I thought, why not? I’m just going to shoot it. It was good team play up until that point, so I was happy to get that one.”
Juan Carlos Amorós’s team could still finish anywhere between third and eighth in the standings, with playoff seeding to be determined on the league’s November 2 Decision Day. Gotham will close out the 2025 regular season on the road against the North Carolina Courage, where the chance to host a playoff match remains within reach.
