It was another tough loss for NJ/NY Gotham FC on Sunday afternoon. Although the teams seemed evenly matched throughout the game, the visitors from San Diego were able to convert their chances into 3 goals. Former Gotham FC goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan walked away with a clean sheet as the home side was unable to convert any of their chances.
Missed Chances, Disappointing Loss
Early in the game, Gotham had a chance to take the lead with Kristie Mewis serving a ball to Ifeoma Onumonu who redirected the ball towards the goal but Sheridan was there to make the save. San Diego then opened up the scoring in the 20th minute with Alex Morgan capitalizing on a turnover in Gotham’s end.
Mewis and Onumonu would combine again in the 40th minute, but this time Onumonu’s shot bounced off the far post. In the 43rd minute, Alex Morgan scored her second goal of the day with an assist from Swedish international Sofia Jakobsson.
In the second half, Gotham would again have an opportunity on goal in the 50th minute with Mewis serving the ball to Margaret Purce who was making a run up the right side. Purce was unable to find the back of the net, directing the ball just wide of the far post. San Diego scored their final goal in the 68th minute. This time, Alex Morgan assisted the goal scored by Makenzy Doniak – essentially solidifying the win for the visitors.
Despite the loss, Gotham FC defender Caprice Dydasco had a standout game with the most dribbles completed (4), most tackles made (2), and most dues won (8).
With nine points in seven games, Gotham FC now sits 8th in the table, two spots below a playoff berth. While it is still early in the season, the team will need to make some adjustments to capitalize on their chances.
As was the case last year, Gotham holds a significant amount of games in hand on the majority of other teams. While other teams have each played nine or ten matches, Gotham has only played seven. Games in hand are not points on the board but this wiggle room does give Gotham the opportunity to make the necessary adjustments and start scoring.
After the game, head coach Scott Parkinson said that the goals from Alex Morgan deflated the team and that he needs to do a better job of helping his players pick themselves up and dust themselves off. He acknowledged that Gotham FC has been a low-scoring team, and knows that there is work to be done to capitalize on their chances in front of the net.
“It can be a little bit psychological, where you just feel that the goal looks tiny and sometimes the goal looks massive and you feel full of energy and full of excitement,” Parkinson explained. “Right now it’s just gonna take one of them games where we probably end up blowing someone out, we score all of our chances, and then it starts feeling good. I think the four games before this were one-nil games, so we’ve been pretty solid defensively.”
With the international break coming up, the squad will lose the attacking power brought by Onumonu, Mewis, and Purce, meaning Parkinson will have to look to his bench to get the group through their July games.
“We’re going to see a lot of new people that are going to get the opportunity to have a go at that, but I’m excited to see Paige [Monaghan], Naho [Kawasumi], Cam [Tucker], and Kumi [Yokoyama] and see what they can do,” he said. “I’m excited to get to work next week and get on to getting them some confidence in front of goal.”
After the game, Ali Krieger emphasized the importance of their team effort and a shared identity on the field. Even though a turnover led to San Diego’s first goal, she is confident that the club will continue to work together to get it right in the future.
“We obviously want to continue to be the team that we want to be, whether we get it right or wrong. We’re going to continue to build on the back end and do that with confidence. Unfortunately, it just didn’t go well on that clearance, and I think our midfield wasn’t as connected to the backline as we could have been in that exact way,” Krieger said. “But from then on, we do everything as a team, whether we do it right or wrong, and, and we’re going to support each other in that and always have each other’s back. It’s no one individual mistake. It’s obviously a team effort.”
Dydasco echoed Krieger, adding that it’s still early in the season and the team plans to use the international break to continue to work and improve.
“I think we’re moving in the right direction. I know that the season is really long and we see the little steps we’re taking. We just have to keep building on top of that and we can’t be discouraged by this loss,” Dydasco said. “We are never not going to be brave and we’ll play the style we want to play. I think we just have to learn from this. We want to compete with the best and we got [San Diego’s] best today.”
Celebrating Juneteenth
Although plenty happened during 90 minutes of play, last night’s match was about more than just soccer. The club also celebrated Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. The club donned Juneteenth-inspired warmup jerseys and had Broadway artist Tanesha Gary sing not only the national anthem but a beautiful rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing.
Prior to the match, both teams wore t-shirts designed by the Black Women’s Player Collective, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization created by the black players in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) to advance opportunities for black girls in sport.
The league now enters a short break without games next weekend. Play will return on July 1st, with Gotham taking on Chicago Red Stars at home on July 2nd. The NJ/NY side will be looking to pick up points against Chicago who currently sit third in the standings.
For more information on the team and their schedule, visit GothamFC.com