Gotham FC Scoreless Streak Continues In Loss To San Diego

B y: Ricky K

Hello sports fans, and welcome back to the IE Sports Radio Blog. Gotham FC (3-4-3) is still looking to find a way for their offense to click, and it did not happen for them on Friday night. While Gotham controlled the play for the first 20 minutes against the San Diego Wave (5-2-2), it was the Wave who scored on their only shot of the first half as they picked up a 1-0 win at Sports Illustrated Stadium.

That goal came in the 29th minute when Kimmi Ascanio put one past Ann-Katrin Berger for her third goal of the year. While Gotham has not scored a goal in their last three matches, the players believe that once they get a goal, the goals will start coming.

“I think the first 30 minutes we controlled the game. We showed some good quality. We limited their possession. We limited their chances a lot. It comes down to us showing consistency and putting the ball in the back of the net. We need to start doing that again…Once we get one in the back of the net, I think they will start coming again,” said midfielder Jaelen Howell.

For the game, Gotham FC ended up winning the shot battle against San Diego 10-6 (2 shots on goal each), but the bulk of those great chances came in the first half. Gotham did have a chance early in the second half to tie it, but the shot by Midge Purce ended up going wide.

There was a fair amount of physicality in this match with a combined 19 fouls and three yellow cards (two for San Diego) between the two teams. For Gotham FC coach Juan Carlos Amorós, the focus now is on the match in Mexico where the team will take on Club America in the CONCACAF Women’s Champions League semifinals.

“It’s time to move on because we play a very important competition this week. The overall focus now is on America, on the trip, on the recovery, we are going away. We want to make sure we come back with that trophy,” said Amorós.

“It’s a quick turnaround, but I think games like this will only make us going into the next two even more aggressive and even more excited to win and to play our best style of soccer. We want to get back into the win column,” said Sarah Schupansky.

Before Friday night’s game, Gotham FC announced that their top goal scorer this year, Esther González, had her contract extended until after the 2027 season. The World Cup winning midfielder for Spain in 2023 has not only made an impact on the field (7 goals in 9 games), but she has made an impact on her teammates as well.

“Esther is an amazing player, world class player. As a teammate, she is super humble, great teammate. She teaches us as midfielders. We love to learn from her. She is so fun to learn from and I think it is so cool to play with her. I think it’s a huge thing for the club to have her on our team,” said Howell.

“She’s a phenomenal player and an even better person. Coming in as a fan of Esther, it’s surreal to get to play next to her and to watch her from five feet away instead of on TV. For her to be here for the next couple of years, that’s huge for the club, but we don’t feel too bad about it either,” said Schupansky.

You have to admire the players' confidence and positive attitudes. Let's hope they can get out of this funk and start scoring some goals. Tune in to NY State of Sports, hosted by Ricky K, on Mondays at 12 PM EST/9 AM PST. Be sure to check out all of the shows here on IESR throughout the week. Shout out to our sponsors Planet Jerky, Vital Apparel, and Seal the Deal Wax Seals, as well as all you listeners that continue to help our network grow. Thank you for reading, and we will see you next time on IE Sports Radio; your direct feed for ALL that is sports.