Rose Lavelle leads Gotham FC to NWSL title with late game-winning goal
Cincinnati native Rose Lavelle won her first NWSL championship.
“MND Messi” Rose Lavelle came through with one of the biggest goals of her professional career Nov. 22.
Lavelle, the Mount Notre Dame grad, scored a goal in 80th minute which was the game-winner in the National Women’s Soccer League championship game.
Lavelle’s goal gave her Gotham FC team a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit in San Jose. Gotham won its second championship in three seasons, and Lavelle won her first NWSL championship.
With 10 minutes left in regulation, Gotham teammate Bruninha dribbled into the goal box and delivered a groundball crossing pass into open space in the front of the box. Lavelle ran up to the ball before the defense could get to it and fired the ball inside the left post past keeper Aubrey (Bledsoe) Kingsbury, a 2009 St. Ursula graduate.
“Bruninha served it on a platter. I just had to put it away, but, yeah, happy to hit the net,” Lavelle said on CBS TV.
Lavelle scored her second goal in the NWSL final in as many appearances after posting a goal in defeat in the 2023 final while with the OL Reign, which lost to Gotham. She had also scored a late goal in a 2024 playoff win.
She missed the first part of the 2025 season due to an ankle injury, debuting in June. Lavelle scored five goals in the regular season.
Gotham snuck into the last spot in the playoffs, finishing 9-8-9 in the regular season to earn the eighth seed in the playoffs. They won all three playoff games with late goals, starting with an upset of top seed Kansas City, who dominated the league all season with a 21-3-2 record. Gotham scored at the death in extra time to win 2-1, then beat Orlando 1-0 with a goal in second-half stoppage time before Lavelle’s late championship winner tonight.
“We know we didn't perform to our potential during the season, so I think this playoffs is about showing to ourselves most of all, what we can do,” Lavelle said.
It is her latest major trophy. Lavelle was a big part in helping the United States win the World Cup in 2019, and the Olympic gold medal in 2024.
She helped OL Reign win the NWSL Shield for the most regular-season points in 2022. In the 2019-20 season with Manchester City, she helped them win the FA Cup trophy.
Kingsbury, a 2009 St. Ursula grad, won two state championships with her high school team. She has been one of the NWSL's top keepers since entering the league in 2016, and helped Washington win an NWSL title in 2021.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Rose Lavelle leads Gotham FC to NWSL title with late game-winning goal
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