Rose Lavelle scored in the first half and Gotham FC beat the Washington Spirit 1-0 on Wednesday night in a match at Citi Field that was dubbed the Queens Classic.
The game was a rematch of the last year’s National Women's Soccer League championship game, which Gotham also won 1-0 on a goal from Lavelle.
Gotham (8-3-3) announced that the game was a sellout with 42,175 tickets sold, a record for a women's sporting event in New York City.
Lavelle scored
on a long chip from an angle to the far post in the 37th minute. It was her third goal of the season.
Sam Kerr subbed into the game for Gotham in the 64th minute, marking her return after more than six years at Chelsea.
The 32-year-old Kerr played for Sky Blue, which later became Gotham, and the Chicago Stars before signing with Chelsea in late 2019. She remains the NWSL’s top regular-season scorer with 77 career goals and led the league in scoring for three straight seasons from 2017-19. She won league MVP awards in 2017 and 2019.
Kerr, an Australian who is considered one of the best strikers in the world, signed with Gotham last month.
“It's weird, honestly,” Kerr said. “I spent most of the start of my career here, and then to go to Chelsea and be in Europe for so long, it's just so different."
Esme Morgan of the Spirit and Gotham’s Jordynn Dudley collided in the first half, resulting in Dudley subbing out of the match with a suspected concussion.
The loss ended the Spirit's three-game winning streak. Washington is 8-3-3.
The match was played with temperatures in the 90s and with an air quality advisory in New York because of wildfires in Canada. As a result of the conditions, there were two hydration breaks in each half.
Earlier this month, Gotham announced the team would start playing at the new Etihad Park adjacent to Citi Field starting in 2028.
Gotham typically plays its home matches at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey. The move to Queens is in partnership with the Major League Soccer club New York City FC, which is building the 25,000-seat Etihad Park.
The record for attendance at an NWSL match was set earlier this season when 63,000 watched the Denver Summit play the Spirit at the NFL Denver Broncos' home Empower Field.
Bárbara Olivieri's early goal led the visiting Boston Legacy to a 1-0 victory over the Orlando Pride.
The loss snapped a three-match home winning streak for the Pride (6-7-2).
Olivieri scored her first goal for the expansion Legacy (4-7-4) despite pressure from two defenders in the 17th minute.
Lizbeth Ovalle appeared to tie the score for the Pride with a goal from a corner kick, but it was disallowed because of interference on Boston goalkeeper Casey Murphy.
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