Gotham wins first NWSL Shield, No. 1 seed: 'That should be the standard'

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  Jeff KassoufNov 1, 2026, 08:58 PM ET

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  Jeff Kassouf covers women's soccer for ESPN, focusing on the USWNT and NWSL. In 2009, he founded The Equalizer, a women's soccer news outlet, and he previously won a Sports Emmy at NBC Sports and Olympics.

Gotham FC defeated the Utah Royals 2-0 on Sunday at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, N.J., to clinch the NWSL Shield for the first time.

After the game, goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger said the trophy is a testament to the team's quality after winning last year's NWSL Championship as the lowest-ranked team in the playoffs.

"We didn't perform last season as well as we should," Berger told reporters after Sunday's win and trophy ceremony. "Because we have the squad that should be on top of the league. I'm not saying that we have to win every single year, but I think now, where we are, that should be our standard with the squad that we have."

"I think over time we've now proved that we are the top team, because if you remember last season, media people were like 'yeah, we're the underdogs.' We are not, and that's our standard. And I think that's why it's even better that we've won the Shield now and I really hope that people are taking us very serious because that's what they should [do]."

Gotham only needed a draw to clinch the NWSL Shield for the first time and hold off the San Diego Wave. Guro Reiten scored early and Jaedyn Shaw added an insurance goal late in the 2-0 win over Utah. San Diego also won on Sunday and finished 3 points behind Gotham.

Gotham is the seventh different franchise to win the NWSL Shield. Gotham won two of the past three NWSL Championships, but prevailed in those postseasons as the lowest seed in the playoffs. They were the No. 8 seed last year when they upset the Shield-winning Kansas City Current in the quarterfinals on the way to a title.

Gotham will host Seattle Reign FC in this year's quarterfinals on Nov. 8 (12 p.m. ET on ABC). Seattle qualified as the eighth and final seed with a 1-0 win over the Orlando Pride on Sunday. All eight NWSL matches kicked off simultaneously on Decision Day to determine the Shield, the final playoff berth and seeding.

As Gotham FC head coach Juan Carlos Amoros pointed out after the match, his team is the holder of all three NWSL trophies for at least a week. They added the Shield to their NWSL Challenge Cup win in June and their 2025 NWSL Championship.

"Very proud of our group," Gotham FC defender and co-captain Tierna Davidson said. "We've showed a lot of resilience this season. We've played soccer in a lot of countries. We started Jan. 2 for preseason, so it's been a very long year. Very proud with everybody's contribution. It has taken every single person on our roster to get to this point. So, we're not done yet but we're very proud of the group."

Gotham has played more games than any other NWSL team so far this season. They played in the inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup in January in England, representing Concacaf as 2025 champions of the region. They also played in the 2026 Concacaf semifinal and third-place match in May, and the Challenge Cup in June.

Sunday was Gotham's 18th victory of the season, a new club record. The team has made the playoffs all four seasons with Amoros as head coach, winning championships in 2023 and 2025.

"Whatever people say, this is the hardest league in the world to win," Amoros said on Sunday.

Only three times in 12 NWSL seasons has the Shield winner also won the NWSL Championship: North Carolina Courage in 2018 and 2019, and Orlando Pride in 2024.

The winner of Sunday's game between Gotham and Seattle will play the winner of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 quarterfinal between the Kansas City Current and Angel City FC, respectively.

San Diego, as the No. 2 seed, hosts the seventh-seeded Utah Royals in Friday's quarterfinal. The Washington Spirit are the No. 3 seed and will host the No. 6 seed Portland Thorns (3 p.m. ET on Sunday on ABC) in the final quarterfinal.

The NWSL Championship will take place on Saturday, Nov. 21, at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.