Gotham FC advances to the semifinals with a victory over Seattle Reign FC

A win is a win, and NJ/NY Gotham FC will take wins however they can get them at this point in the season as they advance to the semifinals of the NWSL Playoffs. They defeated Seattle Reign FC 1-0 for their third victory over the team in 2026.

It certainly was not a pretty win, but in true Gotham FC fashion, they did what needed to be done in the attack to get the one goal they needed. Then, they locked things down defensively to keep Seattle off the scoresheet.

As such, the visitors' season ended, and NWSL legend Jess Fichlock played the final match of her career as she bows out after playing her entire 14-year NWSL career with Seattle. The Reign will need to go back to the drawing board after what was a bit of an up-and-down season with its own set of challenges.

This was just the second-ever home playoff victory for Gotham after beating Portland Thorns FC in the 2024 quarterfinals. It also means that the Bats have won eight out of nine playoff games since head coach Juan Carlos Amorós took over before the 2023 season.

Step one is complete for Gotham FC

Gotham FC got off to a dream start in this match as they scored the opener less than five minutes in. A corner from last season's playoff hero Jaedyn Shaw fired at the feet of Reign defender Jordyn Bugg. Bugg, seemingly unable to react in time, had the ball deflect off her and past an unsuspecting Claudia Dickey in goal to give the NJ/NY side a crucial early goal.

It seemed, going into this game, that Seattle's best chance of getting the win in this match was to score an early goal themselves. Instead, they had to face an uphill climb much earlier in the game than anticipated.

What followed was the defensive, low-event game many feared would be in store, as neither team could create much of anything in the first half, with the only shot on goal coming from a speculative effort by Fichlock. The game went into halftime 1-0, seemingly following the exact playbook Gotham hoped for going into the afternoon.

Coming out of the halftime break, Seattle tried to take on more of the attacking impetus with a few long-range efforts. They then seemed to have scored the equalizer in the 59th minute with a nice play that culminated in a Fichlock cross being finished off by Nérilia Mondésir. Thankfully, for the Bats, the offside flag was raised, and the goal was disallowed.

A worrying trend that continued to creep up late in this game was some sloppy play from Gotham, specifically when they were building up out of their defensive third. Arguably Seattle's two biggest chances of the game came off of turnovers. First, in the 71st minute, when Maddie Mercado picked up a ball and got off her best effort of the game, that produced another great save from Berger. Then, in the 84th minute, another turnover was picked up by substitute Sally Menti, who got off a strong shot that went just wide of the post.

Stoppage time then had its own bit of chaos as a late free kick for Seattle on the edge of the 18-yard box saw goalkeeper Dickey come forward. She was then caught out of goal as both Guro Reiten and Midge Purce went on the counterattack. Reiten then had a brain-fart and passed the ball forward to Purce while she was in an offside position. Normally, that would have been the smart play to make, but given Dickey was out of goal and near midfield, that made a normally onside play offside.

Gotham then had one last free kick to defend shortly thereafter and managed to keep the ball out of the net one last time, securing the 1-0 victory to advance to the semifinals.

This was about as ugly a game anybody could have thought of. Given the two sides' style of play, a barn burner was not really anticipated by anybody, but Gotham managing to come away with the win without a shot on goal was pretty clearly on nobody's bingo card.

Now, the NJ/NY side will host the Kansas City Current next week. As fans will recall, they beat the Current on the road during last year's quarterfinals in arguably the biggest upset in the history of the NWSL playoffs.

However, there is still a question mark over where exactly that game will be played. Due to scheduling and broadcast conflicts, if the Portland Thorns manage the upset over the Washington Spirit, then their semifinal game will be played at the 5,000-seat Icahn Stadium, whereas a Spirit victory will see them play at their usual home, Sports Illustrated Stadium. Hopefully, the game will be at the usual venue.

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