8-seed Gotham shun ‘underdog’ tag, stun Current

Nothing about Sunday’s NWSL quarterfinal was normal.

The Kansas City Current entered as the most dominant No. 1 seed in league history. Gotham FC, the reigning Concacaf champions and 2023 league champions, was the most talented No. 8 seed in the league’s short history of staging a quarterfinal round. And both teams played without their star forwards, the two leading scorers in the NWSL.

The result was jarring, too — at least for outsiders: Gotham’s 2-1 victory in extra time at CPKC Stadium brought an early ending to the season of arguably the best NWSL team in history.

“We’re not an eighth-place team,” Gotham forward Jaedyn Shaw said after registering a goal and an assist. “I’m sorry, but underdog, my ass. We are not an underdog.”

Shaw scored in the 68th minute and assisted Katie Stengel’s winning goal in the 121st minute.

Gotham will visit No. 3 seed Orlando Pride in next week’s semifinal in a meeting of the past two league champions.

Kansas City’s defense conceded only 13 goals in 26 regular-season games, a league record. The Current set records for points (65) and wins (21) this season and finished 21 points clear of the second-place Washington Spirit.

But Kansas City played Sunday’s quarterfinal without reigning MVP and back-to-back NWSL Golden Boot winner Temwa Chawinga due to a hip injury. Chawinga led the league with 15 goals this season. Current forward Michelle Cooper missed the match as well with a foot injury, and teammate Bia Zaneratto labored through a leg issue for nearly the full two hours up top.

Kansas City coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the match that “if there was even a slight chance for Temwa to play the game, even one minute, she was probably going to be on the field,” but Saturday in training “it was obvious that we’re risking [a] bigger injury.”

Gotham played without forward Esther González, who scored 13 goals this season. She has also been dealing with a hip problem in recent weeks. Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amoros said the Spanish forward could have potentially played a small role Sunday, but she stayed bundled up in a puffer jacket on the bench throughout the match, which kicked off with a windchill below freezing.

Shaw’s 68th-minute goal gave Gotham the lead, and it looked as if that would hold up as the game winner until stoppage time. Current winger Ellie Wheeler scored in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, however, the latest equalizer in NWSL playoff history, to force extra time.

With a penalty shootout looming, Shaw’s cheeky flick on a long free kick from goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger fell to Stengel, who buried her shot off the underside of the crossbar.

Shaw’s goal punctuated her turnaround at Gotham after an uncertain year that saw her traded twice in nine months. The U.S. women’s national team playmaker left San Diego Wave FC for the North Carolina Courage in a blockbuster January deal, but she struggled to integrate with the Courage. In September, Gotham paid an NWSL intraleague record $1.25 million to North Carolina to acquire Shaw.

Her arrival at Gotham in September coincided with a brief boost in form for Gotham, but it didn’t last, and Gotham dropped to the No. 8 seed after a loss to the North Carolina Courage in the regular-season finale.

On Sunday, Gotham looked to return to its September form that preceded a four-game winless streak to end the regular season. Shaw was once again a huge part of that.

“It’s been so fun being a part of this club,” Shaw said. “I think just coming into this game, we all knew that we were going to come into this game and give everything that we had.”

Gotham was comfortable with the ball in the first half of Sunday’s quarterfinal, keeping nearly 70% of the possession, but the Current had the two best opportunities of the half.

Ally Sentnor, playing in the No. 10 role for Kansas City, fired a right-footed shot toward the top corner in the 17th minute, but Berger made a diving save.

Berger came up big again 12 minutes later, when she denied Nichelle Prince on back-to-back saves. Kansas City forward Debinha dribbled out of pressure and played Prince in behind Gotham’s defense for a counterattack, but Prince’s initial shot was right at Berger’s chest. The rebound fell back to Prince, but Berger made another point-blank save to keep the game scoreless.

Sentnor and Prince combined in the 63rd minute for a promising attack, but Gotham defender and U.S. international Emily Sonnett recovered to block Sentnor’s shot inside the box.

But Gotham finished the game with 15 shot attempts and the victory.

Stengel, Gotham’s quarterfinal hero, has had a journeywoman career that included multiple stints with Gotham. She returned to Gotham this summer via transfer from Crystal Palace, where she moved in September 2024.

Stengel also scored an extra-time winner in the 2023 semifinal on Gotham’s march to a first NWSL Championship.

Kansas City’s failure to advance this year followed a hard-fought, disappointing semifinal loss to eventual champions Orlando Pride last year, a result that prevented the Current from playing for a title in their home stadium.

“I’ve been saying this for two years: We’re not here to have one good season and go away,” Andonovski said. “We’re not here to have a couple of good games and go away. We’re here to stay. This club is going to be here, and we’ll make sure that we make a mark every season.”