Lavelle Dreams of Leading Gotham To Special Place Among New York Champions
Away from the concrete jungle of New York, Gotham FC star midfielder Rose Lavelle is looking to make history at San Jose’s PayPal Park on Saturday night.
The 30-year-old missed out on featuring in May’s 2025 CONCACAF W Champions Cup final victory due to ankle surgery.
That has only further energized her drive to bring the NWSL Championship trophy back to the New York metro area. Gotham will square off with the Washington Spirit at 8 p.m. Eastern Time for the NWSL’s biggest prize.
“Anytime you have the opportunity to compete for a trophy, it’s special,” Lavelle said. “With the group we have and all that we’ve gone through the whole season, it would be icing on the cake. Getting to be part of the New York–New Jersey sports market is so cool. To be able to bring a trophy back to that would be really special. Living in the playoffs is a whole different piece. When you get to this point, you just have to go out, have fun, and stay present.”
Gotham Star Hopes To Deliver on ‘Big Apple’ Championship Aspirations
Lavelle has sampled the lively atmosphere at New York Yankees and New York Giants games. There was a time when the Bronx Bombers rolled off four World Series championships between 1996 and 2000. The Giants twice upset the mighty New England Patriots in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI.
“I think it’s just been so fun,” Lavelle said of her experience of playing in New York. “There’s so much to do in New York. I think that off the field, we’ve had a lot of moments as a team that have just allowed us to continue to grow and build connections in that way. Being able to show up and cheer on all the other New York/New Jersey teams has been really cool.
“Being a part of that is such a special, fun feeling. If we can help contribute a trophy to that sports market, it would be really cool and special – especially with the group that we have this year."
Having arrived at Gotham in 2024, Lavelle wasn’t part of Juan Carlos Amoros’ squad that won the 2023 NWSL Championship. As a leader and key member of the current roster, she wants to lay down a foundation for Gotham to compete for future championships.
“There were so many hours put into getting to this moment,” Lavelle said. “It’s definitely not something anybody should really take lightly, but it’s also something we want to continue to push this club to be competing in every single year. It’s good for this group to have this experience and hopefully get a taste of it, and continue to push for that to be the standard every year.”
Gotham FC enters the final with a boost, given that Esther Gonzalez and Geyse both have been declared fully fit as they were removed from the NWSL’s availability report. Esther started in Gotham’s 1-0 semifinal victory over the Orlando Pride .
It will take an all-hands-on-deck effort to defeat the Spirit, especially as star forward Trinity Rodman has been given the green light to start after fully recovering from a knee sprain.
We'll soon learn if Gotham can deliver a championship celebration to the streets of Manhattan.
The match will air on CBS and can be streamed on Paramount+.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Nov 22, 2025, where it first appeared in the Soccer section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
