A sold-out crowd of 42,175 flocked to Flushing on Wednesday night for the first NWSL match held in New York City. Gotham came away with a 1-0 win.
Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, played host to the defending NWSL champion Gotham FC and the Washington Spirit for the Queens Classic, the third NWSL match held at an MLB ballpark in the past two years.
It was the first women’s sports event hosted at Citi Field in its 17-year history.
The crowd was the largest at a New York women’s sports event, surpassing the 28,143 fans at Coco Gauff’s victory at the 2023 U.S. Open women’s singles final, which took place nearby at Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was the second-largest NWSL crowd in league history, only trailing the 63,004 fans at Denver’s Empower Field in March.
On her bobblehead night, midfielder Rose Lavelle got the party started for the home team in the 37th minute, firing a shot over the head of Spirit goalie Sandy MacIver. That would remain the only score of the game as Gotham shut out Trinity Rodman and the Spirit in a rematch of the 2025 NWSL championship game.
But Wednesday night’s game was about far more than the score. It was a stepping stone for Gotham, which in its 20-year history has gone from playing at Yurcak Field on the Rutgers campus to finding its new home at Etihad Park, which it will share with NYCFC starting in 2028.
“I think my favorite thing about tonight is that it isn’t transactional,” NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman told reporters at halftime. “It’s not a one-and-done. This is the beginning of a new relationship for this team in Queens.”
It was a stepping stone for the NWSL, too, as its attendance continues to grow and it looks to capitalize on the excitement drawn by the men’s FIFA World Cup, which wraps up Sunday a short trip away at MetLife Stadium.
Adding to the excitement in Queens was the return of a star. In the second half, striker Sam Kerr made her official comeback to Gotham, which she played for when it was known as Sky Blue FC from 2015 to 2017, when it called the Rutgers facility home. Kerr still holds the NWSL record for regular-season goals after six seasons with Chelsea, and the multi-time Olympian came onto the pitch to raucous cheers.
Outside Citi Field Wednesday, the anticipation for the historic event was palpable. One fan, Rysa, hosts a monthly knitting club at Wilka’s Sports Bar in Manhattan, the city’s first sports bar dedicated to women’s sports, and orchestrated a club outing to the match following a trip to the Barclays Center to see the Liberty earlier this season.
“It’s just really joyful. I walk around, and I feel so happy … it feels like such a safe, uplifting environment,” Rysa told The Post.
The women’s sports party doesn’t stop after Wednesday night in the Big Apple. Gotham will play host at another New York City venue when the Seattle Reign visit Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island on Saturday.
