Trinity Rodman, Spirit size up Gotham FC in NWSL championship

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Washington Spirit fell one win short of capturing the NWSL championship last year.

They get another chance at grabbing the trophy on Saturday when they face Gotham FC.

"Super pumped to be in the final again back-to-back years," Spirit star Trinity Rodman said. "Just focused on us and being able to take it home to D.C."

Rodman, and her team, also are focused on her health.

The 23-year-old U.S. women's national team star sustained a knee injury in mid-October that kept her out of action until she returned for a brief cameo at the end of the Spirit's semifinal win last weekend.

The extent of her availability for Saturday remained uncertain as of media day on Thursday.

"Getting another week under my belt is nothing but positive," Rodman said. "I was able to get those minutes last week, and I'm really grateful for that. (The recovery) has been extremely smooth, and I'm hoping that we do really well this weekend and I can see the field again, hopefully for a couple more minutes."

Rodman acknowledged that the game will carry extra spice considering the Spirit beat Gotham in a penalty-kick shootout in last year's semifinals. Gotham won the teams' first meeting this season before the sides played to two scoreless draws.

"Whenever we play Gotham, I think you never know what you're going to get, which I think is the coolest thing about our sport," Rodman said. "... You have no idea what the result is, who's going to score, what arguments are going to happen on the field. So I'm extremely excited to play Gotham again."

Gotham FC are seeking something of a rerun of their lone previous championship. They were the last playoff seed (then No. 6) in 2023 when they emerged on top. This year, they are the eighth and final seed in the playoffs, yet they are back in the final.

The similarities end there, though, according to forward Midge Purce.

"I think (2023) was a true Cinderella story where we really overcame, and I don't look at this team and think Cinderella," Purce said. "(The final) is where we deserve to be for the amount of talent we have."

Gotham FC squeezed into the last playoff spot this year after going winless in their final four regular-season games (0-2-2).

Then Gotham opened the playoffs against the league's dominant top seed, the Kansas City Current, and pulled off a stunning 2-1 win in extra time. Katie Stengel's goal in the 121st minute completed the upset.

Gotham provided more dramatics in the semifinals at Orlando. Jaedyn Shaw's 96th-minute free kick from just outside the penalty area bounced in the box and sailed into the far corner of the net, giving Gotham FC a 1-0 win.

Shaw said of the postseason turnaround, "It's the mentality. We knew that the past few games leading into the playoffs weren't great for us, weren't good performances, we weren't getting results. So I think we knew coming in ... we had to lock in and come together as a group and bring that mentality to win."

The Spirit, who fell 1-0 to the Orlando Pride in the 2024 NWSL championship match, finished second in the regular season this year despite failing to win their final three contests (0-2-1).

Washington needed a penalty-kick shootout to get past Racing Louisville after a 1-1 draw in the quarterfinals.

The semifinals weren't as stressful for the Spirit. Washington jumped on top of the Portland Thorns in the 27th minute when Rosemonde Kouassi's end-to-end run down the right flank set up Gift Monday for the opening goal. A second-half tally from Croix Bethune secured a 2-0 victory.

Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt said, "We're young, we're fiery, but keeping our heads. It's a huge game (on Saturday), but I feel like if we don't deviate from the stuff we do all year, we'll find ourselves (winning)."

--Rick Kaplan, Field Level Media