(Reuters) – Spanish striker Esther Gonzalez headed in the game winner to secure Gotham FC’s first National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Championship title 2-1 over OL Reign on Saturday.
Forward Lynn Williams got the scoring started for the New Jersey/New York club, as Gotham capped a Cinderella run through the postseason only a year after they finished at the bottom of the table for the top-flight American league.
The showdown between Gotham and Seattle’s Reign was highly anticipated as the final match of twice World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe’s career but the retirement party came to an abrupt end as the forward exited minutes into the affair with an injury.
A superb solo effort from Rapinoe’s U.S. national team mate Rose Lavelle got Reign on the board in the 29th minute but Seattle were unable to convert on a series of second-half efforts in their third appearance in the NWSL title match.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; editing by Robert Birsel)
