Gotham FC celebrated the first NWSL title in franchise history in raucous fashion, and midfielder Kristie Mewis chronicled all the action.
After defeating OL Reign, 2-1, in the championship match, Gotham players marked the occasion in the traditional manner: a team dogpile, followed by the trophy presentation and locker room party. But they added their own twists, throwing in a toss of retiring captain Ali Krieger, an on-field conga line and an improvised slip-and-slide.
A connoisseur of championship bashes, Mewis established her credentials in the aftermath of the Houston Dash’s 2020 Challenge Cup tournament victory. And she brought that experience to bear Saturday at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium.
She documented the celebration in a series of videos posted to her Instagram Stories, with teammates Kelley O’Hara and Lynn Williams among those featured. She also posted a photo and a video with just one caption between them: “Dudeeeeeeeeee.”
From Midge Purce receiving the match MVP award to Ali Krieger hoisting the new NWSL championship trophy to Gotham players attempting to drink from said trophy, check out some of the best scenes from the post-victory revelry.
Preview the 2023 NWSL Championship by tuning into the Just Women’s Sports Super Show Presented by State Farm, featuring surprise guest appearances by NWSL stars. Watch here.
Both teams competing in Saturday’s NWSL Championship final had key players return from injury during the playoffs.
OL Reign’s Rose Lavelle and Gotham FC’s Kristie Mewis missed long stretches of the regular season. But in the postseason, each has made her presence known on the pitch.
After not playing since Sept. 3 due to a nagging knee injury, Lavelle made her return on Oct. 21 in OL Reign’s first postseason win since 2015. In the Reign’s following game — the NWSL semifinal against the San Diego Wave — Lavelle assisted on Veronica Latsko’s game-winning-goal.
“It’s been really nice to build back my minutes, I’m feeling good,” Lavelle said Thursday. “Hopefully I can shake a little rust off, but I’m happy to be back in a position where I can help on the field.”
HOW DID THAT GO IN?!? 🤯@V_Latsko12 gives @OLReign the lead from an impossible angle! pic.twitter.com/YUiKbPhrfY
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 6, 2023
Mewis made her own return from a lower-leg injury in Gotham’s semifinal game against the Portland Thorns in similar fashion to Lavelle. In Mewis’ first appearance for Gotham since she played for the U.S. women’s national team in the World Cup, she assisted on Katie Stengel’s game-winning tally to send their club to the final.
“Obviously, I’ve been out for a bit so I do feel a little bit rusty, but I feel really good. I’m not in pain anymore, which is a huge deal for me. . . I’m just excited to help the team in any way that I can and play whatever role I need to play,” Mewis said.
KATIEEEEEEE STENGELLLLLLL!!!!!!!!
— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) November 6, 2023
also, welcome back Kristie Mewis. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/WPSdHvCQY1
Both Lavelle and Mewis are expected to be available for the NWSL Championship at 8 p.m. ET Saturday, when either Gotham or OL Reign will emerge as first-time champions.
“I think the team has been so incredible and has absolutely carried everybody to this point,” Mewis said of her squad. “I’m feeling good, I think the team feels so good. We’re in such a good spot mentally and physically right now, so I’m so excited to see what we bring on Saturday.”
U.S. women’s national team midfielder Kriste Mewis and Australian striker Sam Kerr have confirmed their engagement after weeks of speculation.
On Oct. 24, Mewis posted a collage on Instagram that features many pictures of herself and Kerr — and one that clearly showed an engagement ring on her finger.
Weeks passed without any confirmation of an engagement from the soccer stars, but a People Magazine exclusive broke the news Friday morning. The announcement came just ahead of Saturday’s NWSL Championship, in which Mewis will compete with Gotham FC.
The couple began dating in 2020 but kept their relationship quiet until 2021, when they were photographed together at the Tokyo Olympics. They rooted for each other throughout the 2023 World Cup as well, and Mewis told People that Kerr is her “biggest supporter.”
Mewis knows that she hasn’t been subtle when it comes to sharing her relationship online, but that is a purposeful decision. She hopes that her relationship with Kerr can be an inspiration to others.
“I love to share my relationship on social media,” Mewis told told soccer lifestyle magazine Gaffer. “So I think if we can change the way one or two people feel about themselves, they can look at us and see that we’re happy and we’re trying to be as successful as we can and we’re an out gay couple. I think that that’s so important.”
The Gotham FC bench came up big in extra time in Sunday’s NWSL semifinal win over the defending champion Portland Thorns.
In Gotham’s 1-0 victory at Portland’s Providence Park, the lone goal came off the foot of forward Katie Stengel, with an assist from midfielder Kristie Mewis.
Both Mewis and Stengel came on as substitutes, with Mewis replacing Esther González in the 80th minute and Stengel replacing Delanie Sheehan in the 100th minute. They provided a the difference in a rain-soaked, defensive battle.
In the 107th minute, Mewis directed a failed Thorns clearance to Stengel at the top of the box. Stengel nudged the ball to her left to set up her shot, then used her left foot to send it flying over several Thorns defenders and into the top left corner of the net.
The shot went against the usual advice of head coach Juan Carlos Amorós, who tells his players to keep the ball “on the floor,” Stengel said.
“So I thought: Let’s do the exact opposite,” she said. “And it worked out!”
KATIEEEEEEE STENGELLLLLLL!!!!!!!!
— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) November 6, 2023
also, welcome back Kristie Mewis. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/WPSdHvCQY1
Stengel joined Gotham on loan from Liverpool in July, a move which became a permanent transfer in September. The 31-year-old forward has signed with the New Jersey-based club through the 2025 NWSL season.
In eight appearances for Gotham in 2023, Stengel has three goals, including Sunday’s game-winner. Her first goal for the club this season, which came in her very first appearance, also came against Portland.
“When I was here even temporarily, it felt like a more of a home,” Stengel said. “It felt like everyone was a part of this team, family environment. … So I was sold early on, just with the team culture and professionalism on and off the field, and it was great to be part of — and even better that we get to go to the final now.”
Mewis played her first minutes for Gotham FC since playing in the 2023 World Cup with the U.S. women’s national team. The 32-year-old midfielder has been out with a lower leg injury, and she was listed as questionable on the availability report ahead of the semifinal.
“What we’ve shown, and what they’ve shown, is: This is a squad of 25, 26 players, where everyone is important and key at certain points of the season,” Amorós said.
Jenna Nighswonger stepped into a Gotham FC roster full of U.S. women’s national team veterans and current stars. And the NWSL Rookie of the Year candidate still made a name for herself.
The 22-year-old credits her success to her teammates, who put her at ease as soon as she stepped onto the field — even as she navigated a position change.
Drafted out of Florida State as a forward, Nighswonger made her name in her first season as a fullback, becoming a mainstay for Gotham in her new role. While she is still working on her defensive skills, she has enjoyed bringing an attacking mindset to the position as well.
And her fellow players, including Gotham FC captain and defender Ali Krieger, have been “so helpful” in her finding her confidence on defense, she said Thursday. Even if it was a little intimidating at first.
“I think the biggest thing that stands out to me is I was just quite nervous to come into a team with names like Ali Krieger, Lynn Williams, Kelley O’Hara,” she said Thursday. “Just because I didn’t really know. I [had] never met them before.”
But in meeting the international stars on the Gotham FC roster for the first time, Nighswonger found them to be “such good people.” The roster for the New Jersey-based club features not just Krieger, Williams and O’Hara but also USWNT players Midge Purce and Kristie Mewis, as well as Nigeria’s Ifeoma Onumonu, Spain’s Esther González and Brazil’s Bruninha.
“Everyone on the team is just amazing and they’ve been so welcoming,” she said, noting that she’s grown more comfortable with time. “I hope everyone else feels [comfortable]. We just have such a great group of girls and I think that we’re all willing to work so hard for each other and do whatever it takes to get to the final. I think it’s just amazing how in a matter of like a few months I just feel so comfortable with a whole new group of girls.”
Nighswonger and her Gotham FC teammates will face the No. 2 seed Portland Thorns at 7 p.m. ET Sunday in the NWSL semifinals with a shot in the championship match on the line.
U.S. women’s national team midfielder Kristie Mewis added fuel to the engagement rumors swirling around herself and Australia striker Sam Kerr.
In an Instagram post, Mewis featured a photo of herself holding a drink with her left hand, with a diamond ring prominently displayed on the third finger of her hand.
That photo led a collection of assorted snapshots, which Mewis captioned: “Some old and some new,” featuring Mewis in training, Gotham FC and USWNT teammates Kelley O’Hara and Lynn Williams, as well as Mewis and Kerr together. Kerr commented on the post with a heart emoji.
While neither Kerr nor Mewis have made any announcements about an engagement, eagle-eyed fans began to speculate after spotting the diamond ring on Mewis’ left hand in social media posts at the end of September.
The pair have been dating since 2020, but they did not go public with their relationship until they made headlines at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. They supported each other throughout the 2023 World Cup, with Mewis attending the Matildas’ matches after the USWNT’s Round of 16 elimination.
“Thank you babe for always being my everything every step of the way and I’m so proud of you and thankful for you,” Mewis wrote to Kerr in an Instagram caption after the USWNT’s World Cup exit.
NWSL Decision Day was a nerve-racking day for everyone involved, fans and players alike, as Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams shared on the most recent episode of their “Snacks” podcast for Just Women’s Sports.
Mewis, who is out for the season with a knee injury, tried to “watch three games at a time.” All 12 teams played simultaneously Sunday, with four playoff spots up for grabs on the final day of the season.
“I did the TV, iPad, phone situation. I mainly was watching the Gotham-Kansas City game, that was my main focus of the day,” she said. Mewis is under contract with the Current, while her sister Kristie plays for Gotham FC.
“But I also had the NC-Spirit game up for a little bit, especially at the end … So I was trying to watch all the games. They all had implications on each other.”
While Williams was on the field for Gotham FC, her injured teammate Kristie Mewis told her that both she and Kelley O’Hara were pacing around in their box as they watched their teammates fight to the finish. Mewis and O’Hara both were sidelined with lower leg injuries for the 2-2 draw, which clinched a playoff berth for their team.
“All I know is Kristie was telling me when they were watching upstairs, ‘We just kept moving all over the place,’ and she was like a nervous wreck,” Williams said.
Sam Mewis called the movement of the table “wild.” Ultimately, Gotham FC finished in sixth place, while Angel City FC finished in fifth.
“I watched you guys go from No. 3 to No. 6 because Angel City scored a fourth goal,” she said. “Or Orlando’s? It was wild, I don’t even know what happened.”
“There’s a funny video of Kelley outside screaming at us in the box,” Williams said. “And all of a sudden, they forced her to go inside because she had to watch by herself because she was all out of sorts watching. So they were like, ‘Get inside. We can’t handle you right now.’”
New photos are fueling rumors of an engagement between U.S. women’s national team midfielder Kristie Mewis and Australia striker Sam Kerr.
The pair have been dating since 2020, but they did not go public with their relationship until they made headlines at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. They supported each other throughout the 2023 World Cup, with Mewis attending the Matildas’ matches after the USWNT’s Round of 16 elimination.
“Thank you babe for always being my everything every step of the way and I’m so proud of you and thankful for you,” Mewis wrote on Instagram after the USWNT’s World Cup exit.
While neither Kerr nor Mewis have made any announcements about a possible marriage proposal, eagle-eyed fans have started to speculate after spotting a diamond ring on Mewis’ left hand in recent social media posts, including several from her NWSL club Gotham FC. Kerr has been visiting Mewis in the United States before her club season begins with Chelsea in England’s Women’s Super League.
An honor to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the “Battle of the Sexes'' victory, alongside the iconic @BillieJeanKing herself. Thank you for having us, @people and @elfcosmetics as we celebrated Women Changing the Game, equal play, and equal pay. ☺️ pic.twitter.com/gQiyBJYGtF
— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) September 21, 2023
The U.S. women’s national team is missing several big names for its first matches after the 2023 World Cup.
The roster for the September training camp features 21 of the 23 players who made up the World Cup team in Australia and New Zealand. The two players absent? Sophia Smith and Kristie Mewis, both of whom are out with injuries.
Smith, the lone USWNT player nominated for this year’s Ballon d’Or, sustained a mild MCL sprain at the end of August in her second match back with the Portland Thorns after the international tournament. She had scored in her first game back and leads the NWSL with 11 goals this season.
The 23-year-old forward also was one of the team’s leading scorers Down Under, along with midfielder Lindsey Horan. Smith and Horan had two goals each; no one else on the USWNT found the back of the net during the disappointing World Cup run.
The absence from the September camp marks Smith’s second time missing friendlies this year for the USWNT. She missed the January camp in New Zealand with a foot injury.
Mewis, meanwhile, is out with a lower leg injury. The 32-year-old midfielder has not played since the World Cup and reportedly has yet to return to training with Gotham FC. USWNT staff declined to provide any additional information on the injury, saying it was up to Mewis and Gotham FC.
“Kristie is progressing really well,” interim head coach Twila Kilgore said. “She’s also in her home environment, working on return to play. And when she’s able to return to play and do that in her home environment, we would be looking at potentially bringing her in again in the future.”
Also not on the roster is Catarina Macario, who still is recovering from an ACL tear suffered in June 2022. She signed a three-year deal with Chelsea this June, and she has been training with the English club since August.
“Cat is still in recovery. She’s working on her return to play in her home environment at Chelsea,” Kilgore said. “She’s done a really good job. And we’re looking forward to potentially having her back in the squad in the future.”
The U.S. women’s national team is abruptly moving into a new cycle, as it tries to shrug off a disappointing World Cup campaign and bounce back at the 2024 Olympic Games. The team has yet to name an official successor to head coach Vlatko Andonovski, and all assumptions about the USWNT player pool are off while the team resets.
A number of players on the World Cup roster this summer didn’t get the opportunities they perhaps deserved, but that doesn’t mean the future isn’t still bright for the four-time World Cup champions. So, what comes next for the USWNT’s bench players?
Let’s take a look at how they are currently contributing to their club teams, and why they’re still in the mix for permanent USWNT roster spots.
Ashley Sanchez, M, Washington Spirit
Sanchez explained to the media upon her World Cup return that she was a bit surprised by her role at the tournament. “Let’s just say the role [I was told I would fill] was not what I played,” she told the Washington Post after returning to the Spirit.
Sanchez is a player who can exploit space as both an attacker and a playmaker and isn’t afraid to take shots on goal. She made that clear with a ripper of a goal just 40 seconds into her first game back with Washington. Under Andonovski, Sanchez was frequently asked to sit on the backline of the USWNT’s opponent and as an additional attacker rather than a traditional midfielder. The finishing pressures placed on the player in that role have never suited Sanchez, who thrives when she has the freedom to collaborate with teammates like Trinity Rodman. As the U.S. works out its midfield shape, allowing Sanchez to create her own space will be paramount.
Alana Cook, D, OL Reign
Cook had one of the USWNT’s strangest World Cup experiences. After carrying the most minutes of any U.S. field player in 2022, she never saw the field at the World Cup, abruptly dropped in place of Julie Ertz at center-back. She’s since returned to a starting role at OL Reign, as she further develops her club partnership with Sam Hiatt.
Cook is a talented player who has struggled with the timing of the game at the international level. The Reign are currently battling for NWSL playoff position, sitting just above the playoff line and five points away from the top of the league table. The team is also on a two-game regular season losing streak heading into September, with an urgency to shore up their formation in defensive transition. Cook is now in the difficult position of needing to step up for her team at home without having gained the playing experience of a World Cup.
Alyssa Thompson, F, Angel City
Alyssa Thompson didn’t feature much for the U.S. during the World Cup, but she perhaps returned to a better situation at the club level than the one she left. Angel City is undefeated in nine games under interim manager Becki Tweed, rising in the NWSL standings and pushing for the club’s first-ever playoff berth.
Thompson has seen some of her scoring responsibilities lessened by the Angel City midfield and the team’s newfound tenacity on set pieces. She continues to stretch defenses with her speed and positioning, while benefiting from a team no longer dependent on getting her the ball on the dribble to have a shot at creating quality chances. The best-case scenario for Thompson is that she continues to grow in her rookie season without the weight of a playoff spot on her shoulders, and so far Angel City is succeeding.
Emily Sonnett, D/M, OL Reign
Emily Sonnett played the part of a World Cup hero in the USWNT’s Round of 16 matchup against Sweden. The 29-year-old has mostly excelled as a center-back at the professional level but also has experience at defensive midfield. After short stints at outside back for the U.S., Sonnett rediscovered her No. 6 roots when Andonovski turned to her unexpectedly to partner with Andi Sullivan and help shore up the team’s shaky formation in the knockout stage.
She has since returned to a Reign team that is firmly set on Cook and Hiatt as their center-backs, and she will likely continue to develop as a defensive midfielder as the Reign jockey for playoff position. Sonnett filled in for an injured Quinn in the early stages of OL Reign’s 2023 regular season, using her natural ability to command space from the midfield. She most recently paired with Quinn in a double-pivot shape, showing the respect she has earned as a midfielder in a very short period of time.
Sofia Huerta, D, OL Reign
Sofia Huerta didn’t see much of the field during the 2023 World Cup, as Andonovski took a conservative approach to his defense. The Reign defender is one of the most reliable contributors in the NWSL, bringing quality on the ball in attacking areas and the ability to drop crosses into the box on a dime. She likely doesn’t need further development as a player nor a confidence boost to be in the mix for the USWNT in 2024. She’ll always be a fair option for a USWNT call-up, depending on how the new coach wants the team to play.
Lynn Williams, F, Gotham FC
Lynn Williams’ vulnerability as part of the USWNT player pool has never made much sense. Her understanding of the team’s defensive pressing triggers are better than almost any other available player. She can fit into both wide and central spaces, and she can thrive in high-volume shooting schemes and in taking key chances without controlling possession.
Williams is a legitimate NWSL Golden Boot and MVP candidate in her first season with Gotham. The forward should be a valued part of the USWNT’s plans going forward, rather than held at arm’s length by the program, as she has been in the past.
Kristie Mewis, M, Gotham FC
Kristie Mewis has always shown flashes of sophistication at the international level that she’s never had significant time to develop. Mewis is known as a galvanizing locker room presence and a versatile midfielder who can slot into a number of roles as a substitute. She also brings quality on set-piece delivery, and yet hasn’t been given many of those opportunities nor been relied upon to hone one particular position.
Mewis was a starting midfielder for what was arguably the USWNT’s best win in 2023, a 1-0 victory over Japan at the SheBelieves Cup. She was able to combat Japan’s quick-trigger possession approach with her defensive positioning to keep them off the scoresheet. Mewis’ prowess in that moment only takes on greater weight after the World Cup, where Japan was one of the best teams before losing to Sweden in the quarterfinals, and should be considered in future USWNT evaluation.
Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.