Gotham FC opened the season with a 1-1 draw away to Seattle Reign FC | OneFootball

Late Saturday night, NJ/NY Gotham FC played to a 1-1 draw in their season opener away to the Seattle Reign FC. This result ended the team's four-year winning streak in season openers.

For Gotham, the result is something they probably would have taken before the match started, but the context of the match will make them think they let two points slip away in the end. While there were definite bright spots and good individual performances, it is clear the players are still learning about each other, and the team is a work in progress.

For Seattle, this was a good indication of the year-to-year progression. 2024 was their worst season in club history since 2013, and while they didn't come away with the win, they performed well. This was amplified by the fact that their big offseason acquisition, former Gotham FC player Lynn Biyendolo, missed this game against her former team with a lower leg injury.

With the defending Shield and Championship winners Orlando Pride coming to New Jersey next weekend, off the back of a 6-0 win nonetheless, Gotham would have loved to have taken all three points tonight. But it was not in the cards for them tonight unfortunately.

A tale of two halves for Gotham FC

Things got off to a pretty slow start in the first half for both teams, potentially due to the cold temperatures and heavy rain at kickoff. After Seattle had the run of play in the opening 10ish minutes, Gotham FC managed to settle things down, grow into the game, and have more momentum for the rest of the half. Brazilian Gabi Portilho became the first Gotham player to earn a yellow card in 2025 after a foul on Jess Fichlock in the 38th minute. She then very nearly opened the scoring shortly thereafter.

In the 40th minute, goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger miskicked her breakout pass that saw the ball pinball around in the midfield before popping out to Portilho on a fast break. Unfortunately, the Brazilian was quickly caught up by 18-year-old center-back Jordyn Bugg, who squashed the play quite impressively before a shot could be taken.

All of the three new players who started the match played very well in the opening half. Rookie Sarah Schupansky stood out in her first professional half, showing why she was able to lead all NCAA Division I players in assists in the last two years. The aforementioned Portilho showed her ability to create off of the dribble for both herself and her teammates. Jaelin Howell had a calm, steady, composed half, which is really all one can ask for from a defensive midfielder.

Shortly after halftime, Gotham managed to open the scoring. In the 47th minute, a corner kick bounced to Portilho on the edge of the box, where she was able to volley it home for a great goal to open both her personal and the team's account for the season. The shot did take a deflection off of Reign forward Jordyn Huitema, but regardless, the technique on display from Portilho was second to none.

Shortly after the goal, the momentum of the game shifted back to Seattle, with the game almost exclusively being played in Gotham's half of the field. The Reign were then able to use this momentum to find the equalizer. It was chaos in the NJ/NY side's box in the 71st minute when the ball pinballed around before eventually coming off of another 18-year-old for Seattle: Emeri Adames.

Just three minutes after the goal, the first bit of refereeing controversy came about. Reign midfielder Maddie Mercado was the victim of a high boot to the face from Howell. While there was not any malintent nor much force in the contact, a high boot to the face should probably result in a red card, regardless of the mitigating circumstances. Yet, this only resulted in a yellow card, and it did not go to VAR review.

The second controversy came in the 87th minute when Mandy Freeman was assessed a red card for what looked like an incidental coming together with Reign forward Nérilia Mondésir. Originally called just a foul with no yellow, it went to VAR, where a red was retroactively given.

This foul was seemingly the opposite of the Howell incident, where a red card should not have been given out. It mainly seemed like a tangle of legs and just an unfortunate coming together that looked worse than it was. This red card ultimately killed any chance that Gotham had of finding a winning goal.

Meanwhile, there were two additional debuts made late in the game. Rookie Lilly Reale came in to replace Schupansky and take over Freeman's spot at left-back, and 14-year-old Mak Whitham made her NWSL regular season debut when she came in for Esther González.

While a 1-1 result on the road in adverse conditions with a pretty different roster compared to last season is not a bad result, Gotham will feel like this was one that got away from them. All three of the newcomers, Schupansky, Howell, and Portilho had good games. As did the likes of Berger, Ella Stevens, and newly named captain Tierna Davidson.

Next, the Bats will welcome the Pride to Sports Illustrated Stadium for next Sunday's home opener. This will not be an easy game by any stretch. Even though Gotham FC was the only team to beat a full-strength Orlando team last year, it is likely the team might come away with only a point.