Gotham FC Heads to NWSL Quarterfinals Despite Loss to North Carolina Courage

Despite a 3-2 defeat to the North Carolina Courage on Sunday, Gotham FC secured the final playoff spot and will face top-seeded Kansas City in the quarterfinals of the 2025 NWSL Playoffs.

The result dropped Gotham FC (9-8-9, 26 points) to eighth in the standings, sealing their postseason path. North Carolina’s early goals from Meredith Speck and Manaka Matsukubo, followed by a second-half own goal, put Gotham in a three-goal hole. Late goals from Rose Lavelle and Gabi Portilho narrowed the margin but came too late to salvage points.

Head coach Juan Carlos Amorós acknowledged the poor start. “The first 20 minutes – that’s not who we are,” he said. “We were not ourselves… We will have to be the best version of ourselves” to advance in the playoffs.

Lavelle scored on a penalty in the 87th minute, her fifth goal of the season. Portilho, assisted by Katie Stengel, added another in stoppage time. Gotham led in total shots and created 2.25 expected goals to North Carolina’s 2.67.

Amorós said the team is prepared to embrace the underdog role. “Kansas City is a great team, but I believe that we are too,” he said. “We’re going to go there, give it absolutely everything we have.”

Gotham FC will now turn its attention to Kansas City, a familiar opponent they faced recently. “Playoffs are like a whole new season,” Lavelle said. “It doesn’t matter what anyone’s done up to this point… We’ll use this week to prepare.”

The quarterfinal date and time will be announced soon.