Gotham looks for its 100th NWSL regular season win when it faces the fourth-place Utah Royals at 10:00 pm ET at America First Field in Sandy, Utah, with coverage on Victory+.
The club will use the same starting lineup for the second straight regular season game after last week’s 2-0 loss to the San Diego Wave.
Gotham (6-3-3, 21 points) can move up to third in the NWSL standings with a win over Utah, a club it hasn’t lost to since the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup. Gotham is unbeaten in its last four meetings with the Royals, winning three of those matches while allowing just one goal. Saturday marks the 12th meeting between the clubs in all competitions, with Utah holding a slight 5-4-2 advantage in the all-time series.
Veteran Spanish striker Esther Gonzalez leads the attack alongside newcomer Jordynne Dudley and Jaydyn Shaw for the ninth straight match in all competitions. Gonzalez enters the weekend one game-winning goal away from becoming the first player in franchise history with 10 goals, and her next assist would move her into eighth place in Gotham history. Shaw leads the team in regular-season goals scored this season, while Dudley ranks fourth among all forwards in the league with 15 shots on target.
Rose Lavelle will join Jaelin Howell and Savannah McCaskill in the midfield. The trio has started together in eight of Gotham’s 12 league games this season. Lavelle enters Saturday tied with Kelli O’Hara for fifth all-time with 14 regular-season goals, while McCaskill is one assist shy of fifth all-time in Gotham history.
Captain Tierna Davidson and Emily Sonnett once again anchor the backline, with Jess Carter and Guro Reiten lining up on the flanks in front of goalkeeper Anne-Katrin Berger. Friday’s shutout will be Berger’s eighth of the season and 26th of her career, tying AD French (Portland) for ninth place in single-club scoring.
Gotham’s bench includes 10-year veteran defender Mandy Freeman, who is 42 minutes shy of surpassing Sarah Waldmo’s club record for most minutes played in all NWSL competitions. Defender Bruninha, who played her first NWSL regular season game last week, also returns to the bench. Goalkeeper Shelby Hogan; midfielders Sophia Cook, Sarah Schupanski and Talia Sommer; and forwards Kya Harper, Andrea Kitahata and Midge Purse rounded out the bench against Utah.
Defender Kayla Durant (knee) and linebacker Taryn Torres (knee) are on the season-ending injured list.
Gotham lineup vs. Utah Royals
30 – Ann-Katrin Berger (B)
27 – Jess Carter
6 – Emily Sonnett
15 – Tender Davidson (c)
18 – Guro Reiten
7 – Jaelin Howell
13 – Savannah McCaskill
16 – Rose Lavelle
2 – Jordynne Dudley
9 – Esther Gonzalez
10 – Jayden Shaw
Substitutes: 1 – Shelby Hogan (VK), 3 – Bruninha, 11 – Sarah Schupanski, 14 – Talia Sommer, 21 – Sophia Cook, 22 – Mandy Freeman, 23 – Midge Purse, 24 – Andrea Kitahata, 34 – Kya Harper