Chasing dynasty: How Gotham FC's NWSL Shield win completes transformation ahead of playoffs

Gotham won the NWSL Shield for the first time on Sunday, their fifth major title in the last three years

Nov 7, 2026 at 6:04 am ET • 5 min read

En route to their second NWSL championship in two years, relatively new Gotham FC recruit Jaedyn Shaw was uninterested in the narratives that underestimated her team. The surprise win at the NWSL Shield-winning Kansas City Current in the playoff quarterfinals was not a surprise to her, and she made it clear with three quick words: "Underdog, my ass."

Shaw had a point on that cold day in the Midwest, and almost exactly a year later, it still stands. Gotham are the NWSL's new dynasty, and their Shield win marked their fifth major title in three years, with a sixth in their sights as the playoffs begin this weekend. The transformation was rapid for a team that has historically been a bottom-dweller, so much so that their 2023 championship triumph was a genuine surprise. They quickly built a title-winning team and reaped the rewards just as swiftly, but even as the muscle memory of title charges returns, Gotham will go about their next NWSL playoff journey differently. The target is officially on their backs, the onus officially on them to live up to the billing.

Gotham have played the vast majority of their playoff games as the lowest-seeded team in the postseason, winning the championship twice in those circumstances. Sunday's quarterfinal against the Seattle Reign, though, will be the first game they play as the unquestionable favorites to win the whole thing. How Gotham will play with the weight of expectations is entirely unclear, since they have never done it before, but it is a good problem of their own creation, one they have chased since the 2023 triumph. 

How to watch Gotham FC vs. Seattle Reign, odds

Date: Sunday, Nov. 8 | Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
Location: Sports Illustrated Stadium -- Harrison, N.J.
TV: ABC | Live stream: ESPN App
Odds: Gotham FC -150; Draw +265; Seattle Reign +340

Their blitz in the free-agent market in the winter of 2024 laid the foundation for their dynastic run, but the most fascinating feature of Gotham's years-long run of success is the evolution they have undergone since. U.S. women's national team defender Tierna Davidson has become the team's captain, her progressive passing ability making her a key fixture in head coach Juan Carlos Amoros' system. Her club and country teammate Rose Lavelle has become a standout, but the star of the show has been Shaw, who has barely missed a beat since her arrival in September 2025.

Shaw has 14 goals and seven assists in 35 NWSL games with Gotham, her wide-ranging skill set fully on display in Amoros' team. She has been a little bit of everything for the team's attack, which is arguably too reliant on her talents, but it is almost hard to fault Amoros for the approach. The system has allowed Shaw to flourish, in particular bringing out a clear goal-scoring quality that is key to a Gotham team that values defensive work rate first.

"First, I think the commitment they have to defend and the commitment they have to work hard for the team despite being some of the best players technically in the planet," Amoros said about both Shaw and Lavelle after a win over the Chicago Stars in September. "I think that helps the connection, not only between them two. There is a mutual respect there because of that but then also from the whole team. When you have to play and those are the players that produce the chances for us in the final third but then the people that [are] behind them are always supportive of them because of the work they put in and then we try to work a lot with them to how we can find them and how they can connect more with each other and the same with Sam [Kerr]."

He has found a unique way to make Shaw and Lavelle work together, despite the fact that they appear to have overlapping skill sets when it comes time for USWNT head coach Emma Hayes to slot them into her lineup. The pair often play just behind Kerr, an out-and-out striker, and assume the role of strikers themselves while balancing their creative tendencies. They have filled in some gaps along the way -- Kerr, for example, ranks third in the league with 9.67 expected goals since returning to the NWSL on July 16 but has scored just four times. Kerr does, though, have four assists in 17 games, one fewer than Shaw and one more than Lavelle over that span.

The connection between Lavelle and Shaw has offered Gotham a level of dynamism that has been missing in their attack at times over the years, even as they racked up title after title. It helps that the two have enjoyed working alongside each other, the 21-year-old Shaw in particular taking inspiration from Lavelle, a decade her senior.

"I think her movement is some of the best in the world, honestly," Shaw said after that September win over the Stars. "She's able to make stretch runs, drag players. She attracts so many players, opening up space for other players to get on the ball and then getting on the second one, I think, is one of her strengths and is something I'm trying to replicate off of her. I think she's just incredibly smart in soccer knowledge."

For each of them, a return to fitness after small injuries in the final weeks of the regular season comes not a moment too soon. Kerr's inconsistency is not the only attacking issue they will need to overcome -- Jordyn Dudley will miss the postseason with a foot fracture she sustained last month, her impressive rookie season coming to a close with four goals and three assists. Lavelle and Shaw will be particularly useful against the Reign, whose defensive qualities continue to be a strength.

Shaw has become the focal point of Gotham's reinvention in recent years, but Amoros' side has added experienced options in a wide variety of positions since the 2023 championship. The vast majority of Gotham's likely starters on Sunday will have joined the club after the 2023 playoff run, a steady stream of important players signing themselves up since. Ann-Katrin Berger, the 2024 goalkeeper of the year, made the move not long after Davidson and Lavelle did, and European champion Jess Carter followed right after. Midfielder Jaelin Howell, who has been in and around the USWNT, was recruited in time for the 2025 season, and Shaw joined months later. Left back Guro Reiten has two goals and six assists since making her club debut in April, while Kerr made the move at roughly the same time as midfielder Denise O'Sullivan, a two-time NWSL champion with the North Carolina Courage.

Gotham's reinvention is constant, the core evolving each and every season. It is a unique route to the top, but in another season of change, they found the consistency they have been chasing since the 2023 championship. The underdog label has well and truly been shed, the team chasing another tag entirely -- a third championship would put them level with the Portland Thorns as the most successful team in the league's history.