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New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
USWNT's Rose Lavelle records a goal and assist in first game back, helping to defeat Ireland 4-0
Rose Lavelle scored and provided an assist in her first game for the U.S. women's national team in 2025, after a long injury layoff following an ankle surgery at the beginning of the year. The U.S. cruised to a 4-0 victory over Ireland in Commerce City, Colo., with two first half goals from defender Avery Patterson, which Lavelle assisted, and midfielder Sam Coffey. The final dagger came from forward Alyssa Thompson in front of a crowd of 18,504 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. For Lavelle, it was her 25th international goal, scored in her 111th appearance for the national team. In a twist, she scored it with her right foot, not her preferred left. Ally Sentnor to Rose Lavelle! She's SO back 🙌 (via USWNT) [image or embed] — NWSL (@ June 26, 2025 at 10:33 PM The midfielder only recently returned to play for Gotham FC in the NWSL, managing a total of 71 minutes across three matches so far this season. On Thursday, head coach Emma Hayes subbed her off in the 59th minute as she continues to return to full fitness. Lavelle wasn't the only one shining for the U.S. in this first game of the international window. Advertisement Patterson, starting at right back for her fifth cap and third start for the national team, has made a strong case for herself in this lengthy period of evaluation under Hayes in 2025. While Patterson has already scored three goals for the Houston Dash, Thursday's opener was her first on the international stage. AVERY'S FIRST IN THE RED WHITE AND BLUE 🤩 #USWNT x VW [image or embed] — U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@ June 26, 2025 at 9:42 PM Coffey also continued her scoring ways for the U.S., tallying her third international goal before halftime. Lavelle was also involved in the build-up of Coffey's goal, with her pass leading to Thompson's assist. Finally, Thompson added the fourth in the 63rd minute, cutting back across the Ireland defense and putting the ball on her right foot for a curling shot. HOW MANY LETTERS IN THOMPSON BECAUSE ALYSSA 8 WITH THAT GOAL 🔥 (via USWNT) [image or embed] — NWSL (@ June 26, 2025 at 10:42 PM The game also saw a continuation of debuts from Hayes, with three more on Thursday night. Goalkeeper Claudia Dickey of Seattle Reign FC and left back Lilly Reale of Gotham FC both earned starts in Colorado. Reign defender Jordyn Bugg also earned her first cap, subbing on late in the second half for captain Naomi Girma. Dickey was debut No. 20 for Hayes, Reale No. 21, and Bugg No. 22. Hayes and the USWNT head to Cincinnati next for a second match against Ireland, satisfied not just with their performance on Thursday, but with more exploration and proof of the depth of the U.S. pool. (Top Photo: Ray Bahner / Getty Images)
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rose Lavelle returns to USWNT camp and Naomi Girma features again after injuries
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — U.S. women's national team coach Emma Hayes has been deliberate about inviting new, deserving players to senior camp and, more recently, allowing those based in Europe to rest this summer. But as the USWNT prepares for a trio of international friendlies — two against Ireland on Thursday and Sunday, and one against Canada on July 2 — two familiar faces who've starred as fixtures on the roster before their injuries have reappeared: Rose Lavelle and Naomi Girma. Lavelle, a 30-year-old midfielder for Gotham FC, joins the USWNT for the first time this calendar year after recovering from an ankle injury. Her last match with the national team was Dec. 3, 2024, against the Netherlands. Advertisement Girma, meanwhile, plays for Chelsea and makes her second consecutive national team roster after a calf injury. Though the USWNT had only one training under its belt by the time Lavelle and Girma spoke to the media at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., Lavelle said she'd 'missed it a lot' and that she was 'really happy to be back with the girls, happy to be back in the environment.' Lavelle enters this international window as the most veteran national team player with 110 caps and reflected on the way her leadership role has shifted over the years. Of the other 23 players named to this camp, four are first-time call-ups, six don't have any senior caps, and 19 players have fewer than 10 appearances for the USWNT. 'I have been one of the more experienced players now for a little bit, which still feels weird, but I feel like I obviously have been in that position before where I was the newer, inexperienced player, and I always say I think I had a lot of really, really great older players to look up to, to help usher me into the position where I now can be that for the younger players, so it's definitely something that I lean into,' she said Wednesday afternoon. Advertisement Girma, who signed with Chelsea in January for a record-breaking $1.1 million transfer fee, falls squarely under the category of European club players whose seasons just ended. However, the calf injury she picked up during her debut game for the London-based side in March kept her out of action for several months for club and country. She chose to attend this camp to build on her experiences and contributions under Hayes this year, which began during the last window when she played in two U.S. matches, both victories, against China and Jamaica. 'I'm in a different position (from other Europe-based players) where I transferred (to Chelsea) midyear, had a bit of an injury, so I've had some time out this year already, so I think it just made sense to continue staying fit, continue training, and come into this camp and just get another opportunity to play,' she said. When Hayes announced her decision to rest those abroad June 10, she also made it clear Girma would be an exception, citing conversations the two had had about her joining the USWNT this summer. Advertisement Girma will join nine other defenders Hayes has selected for this camp — some of whom, such as the Washington Spirit's Tara McKeown and Orlando Pride's Emily Sams, are ostensibly auditioning to play alongside Girma as central defenders as the team prepares for the 2027 World Cup and Hayes looks to solidify her core group. Others, such as 18-year-old fellow center back Jordyn Bugg and 21-year-old Lilly Reale, will be playing with Girma for the first time. 'Our back line has been strong, and I think it's really important for us to continue getting players in when they're young,' Girma said. 'That's something that I definitely benefited from, and I think as a defender that's something that you need to get that confidence and to feel like you understand how we're playing like how you wanna organize the team, so I think it's only gonna benefit us going forward.' This article originally appeared in The Athletic. US Women's national team, NWSL 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Rose Lavelle returns to USWNT camp and Naomi Girma features again after injuries
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — U.S. women's national team coach Emma Hayes has been deliberate about inviting new, deserving players to senior camp and, more recently, allowing those based in Europe to rest this summer. But as the USWNT prepares for a trio of international friendlies — two against Ireland on Thursday and Sunday, and one against Canada on July 2 — two familiar faces who've starred as fixtures on the roster before their injuries have reappeared: Rose Lavelle and Naomi Girma. Lavelle, a 30-year-old midfielder for Gotham FC, joins the USWNT for the first time this calendar year after recovering from an ankle injury. Her last match with the national team was Dec. 3, 2024, against the Netherlands. Advertisement Girma, meanwhile, plays for Chelsea and makes her second consecutive national team roster after a calf injury. Though the USWNT had only one training under its belt by the time Lavelle and Girma spoke to the media at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., Lavelle said she'd 'missed it a lot' and that she was 'really happy to be back with the girls, happy to be back in the environment.' Lavelle enters this international window as the most veteran national team player with 110 caps and reflected on the way her leadership role has shifted over the years. Of the other 23 players named to this camp, four are first-time call-ups, six don't have any senior caps, and 19 players have fewer than 10 appearances for the USWNT. 'I have been one of the more experienced players now for a little bit, which still feels weird, but I feel like I obviously have been in that position before where I was the newer, inexperienced player, and I always say I think I had a lot of really, really great older players to look up to, to help usher me into the position where I now can be that for the younger players, so it's definitely something that I lean into,' she said Wednesday afternoon. Girma, who signed with Chelsea in January for a record-breaking $1.1 million transfer fee, falls squarely under the category of European club players whose seasons just ended. However, the calf injury she picked up during her debut game for the London-based side in March kept her out of action for several months for club and country. She chose to attend this camp to build on her experiences and contributions under Hayes this year, which began during the last window when she played in two U.S. matches, both victories, against China and Jamaica. 'I'm in a different position (from other Europe-based players) where I transferred (to Chelsea) midyear, had a bit of an injury, so I've had some time out this year already, so I think it just made sense to continue staying fit, continue training, and come into this camp and just get another opportunity to play,' she said. Advertisement When Hayes announced her decision to rest those abroad June 10, she also made it clear Girma would be an exception, citing conversations the two had had about her joining the USWNT this summer. Girma will join nine other defenders Hayes has selected for this camp — some of whom, such as the Washington Spirit's Tara McKeown and Orlando Pride's Emily Sams, are ostensibly auditioning to play alongside Girma as central defenders as the team prepares for the 2027 World Cup and Hayes looks to solidify her core group. Others, such as 18-year-old fellow center back Jordyn Bugg and 21-year-old Lilly Reale, will be playing with Girma for the first time. 'Our back line has been strong, and I think it's really important for us to continue getting players in when they're young,' Girma said. 'That's something that I definitely benefited from, and I think as a defender that's something that you need to get that confidence and to feel like you understand how we're playing like how you wanna organize the team, so I think it's only gonna benefit us going forward.'
Fox Sports
3 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Rose Lavelle Begins Her Path Back To Starring For The U.S. Women's Team
After a six-month hiatus, Rose Lavelle has returned to the U.S. women's national team. The star midfielder was last with the squad for its final matches of 2024, when it traveled overseas to play both England and the Netherlands. But then she underwent ankle surgery in December and has been recovering ever since. Lavelle appeared in her first game for Gotham FC on June 7 in a 2-1 loss to Kansas City, and has been building minutes ever since. This week, she's in USWNT camp ahead of three upcoming matches: two against the Republic of Ireland on June 26 (at DICK's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado) and June 29 (at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio), and one against Canada on July 2 (at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.). It will be the squad's final camp until October. "We're incredibly excited to have her back with us for multiple reasons," manager Emma Hayes said. "First of all, her personality and character in the locker room has been sorely missed the past six months. She's supremely gifted as a football player and playing between sort of the eight and ten positions. She's someone who, I think, as she's maturing as a top-level footballer, is where her game has been going the last 12 months. She's starting to add new dimensions in between the lines." Lavelle has always been one of the USWNT's more unique and creative players. She's left-footed and her finesse on the ball comes naturally. She's elusive and can slip through the midfield or go on a 50-yard run untouched and score a goal in a World Cup final (as she did in 2019 to lift the USWNT to a 2-0 win over the Netherlands). "She's rare," U.S. legend Megan Rapinoe told FOX Sports ahead of the 2023 World Cup. "I've never played with anyone like Rose in my whole career, club or country. She just glides. There's stuff she can do that nobody else can do." Which is why Hayes is so relieved to have her back. Since last summer's Paris Olympics, when the USWNT won gold for the first time since the London Games in 2012, Hayes hasn't had her full squad available. For example: Mallory Swanson and Sophia Wilson are both pregnant; Trinity Rodman has been dealing with back issues (though she recently posted an Instagram video of her getting back on the pitch); and Tierna Davidson tore her ACL. Naomi Girma missed the first part of 2025 with a calf injury, though she has since returned to the national team, and now Lavelle is back, too. If the U.S. had to compete without so many key players, 2025 is the time to do it with the next major tournament not until the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. Plus, these absences have allowed Hayes to give experience to younger players and broaden the player pool for the future. Hayes has called up 27 new players since she took over the team last year, with 19 earning their USWNT debuts. This roster is particularly inexperienced. If you don't count the six players who have been to world championships at the senior level – which includes Lavelle, Girma, Emily Sonnett, Sam Coffey, Lynn Biyendolo and Croix Bethune – the average number of caps in this camp is 3.3 per player. Which is why the younger players are looking forward to getting the opportunity to train and play with someone like Lavelle during this window. "I haven't played with Rose yet, but so far, talking to her and chatting with her off the field – I've seen her play – and I'm so excited to build a connection there on the field," forward Michelle Cooper said this week. "I'm just excited to see her energy and her personality translate on the field and in the locker room." Added Emma Sears, who was on a few rosters with Lavelle late last year and shares a love for the state of Ohio (where Lavelle grew up and Sears went to high school and college): "She's so talented. She's so technical." "And any opportunity I get to play with her," Sears continued, "I think that is super awesome just to be able to learn from her experience and the way that she sees the field is something that I definitely look up to." Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman . Get more from United States Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
How Gotham FC Is Building A New Playbook For Women's Soccer
Ali Krieger, former NJ/NY Gotham FC captain, holds up the 2023 NWSL Championship trophy with ... More National Women's Soccer League Commissioner Jessica Berman, First Lady of New Jersey Tammy Murphy, and Gotham FC Club Chair Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, and teammates after the NWSL match against Kansas City Current at Red Bull Arena on April 14, 2024 in Harrison, New Jersey. (Photo by Ira L. Black - Corbis/Getty Images) One night earlier this month, the Empire State Building lit up in blue across the New York City skyline in celebration of NY/NJ Gotham FC winning the CONCACAF W Champions Cup. The lighting also signaled Gotham's rising role across women's soccer and the broader sports, culture, entertainment, and tourism landscape. 'We are writing the playbook for the future of sports,' said Ryan Dillon, Chief Business Officer of the NY/NJ Gotham FC. 'I wake up every day and feel a great deal of pressure to justify and prove that women's sports can be a business, not a charity. For so long, it's never been seen as that. The tides are changing, and we're the ones doing the work to prove this is a business.' Gotham, which competes in the top-tier National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), is staking a claim in the boom of investment and attention in women's professional sports in the United States from financiers, real estate developers, media enterprises, sponsors, fans, and the general public. Yael Averbuch West, Gotham's General Manager and Head of Soccer Operations, said, 'There is a global landscape emerging in the women's game that will be different than the men's game. And right now, in these next three-to-five years, we believe that there's a real special opportunity that may never again present itself like this in women's sports.' Averbuch West is someone who would know. New York-born and New Jersey-bred, she was a three-time First Team All-America and won two national titles at the University of North Carolina, earned 26 caps with the U.S. Women's National Team, captured league titles in the U.S. and Europe, and founded the NWSL Players Association and served as its first president and later executive director. Named Gotham's general manager in 2021, she was the first former USWNT player to hold such a position in the NWSL. 'At Gotham we are talking every day about the way in which we are going to make our mark in this global landscape—and competitively. And we do believe that it starts on the field with having a world-class team and a world class product on the field, and to have competitive differentiation,' Averbuch West said. On the commercial side, Dillon explained, 'We're flying like a million miles an hour, building like crazy. And that's what every day is like at Gotham. It's all about rapid experimentation and ideation to figure out as quickly as possible what's going to work and what's not going to work, so we can write can that playbook." Parts of the playbook were already written and being implemented when Dillon began engaging with Gotham FC in late 2023. At the time, he served as Head of Portfolio Growth for Next 3, the Tisch Family's sports and technology investment platform. After six months overseeing the club's front office, Dillon formally assumed the role of Chief Business Officer heading into summer 2024. Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, CEO of Next 3 and Dillon's former colleague at Peloton, where they helped scale the company globally, led the investment in Gotham FC. Gotham's ownership includes founding partners like Tammy Murphy and Governor Phil Murphy, alongside minority stakeholders including sports legends Eli Manning, Sue Bird, Kevin Durant, and Carli Lloyd. Through their work at Next 3, Tisch Blodgett and Dillon collaborated closely with various strategy-focused departments of the New York Giants, the century-old NFL club in which the Tisch Family holds a 50 percent ownership stake. This connection provides Gotham with access to proven sports business insights while allowing it to maintain the freedom to innovate in the rapidly-evolving NWSL. According to Forbes' recent valuations of major league sports franchises, the New York Giants franchise is valued at $7.3 billion, while Gotham FC's is valued at $110 million. 'When I think about a team like the Giants and a mature league like the NFL, they're a well-oiled machine,' Dillon said. 'They know exactly what they're doing. There's a system, there's a machine, and it works. And when I think about where the NWSL is, and in particular Gotham, we couldn't be any more different.' Balancing established practice and new action shapes Gotham's approach to growth. It means managing the tension between continuity and change as the club grows its place in the world's most popular sport and without losing sight of the fan community that has been there since before the recent boom in women's sports. For years, Gotham supporters mingled freely with players before and after matches and around practice sessions. Those close connections helped build a dedicated community of fans. But as Gotham and the NWSL have professionalized with the increasing investment in and attention to women's sports, scheduling, security, and media policies have led to a reduction in that level of access. Several supporter groups and individual fans told club leadership they understand the changes, but feel that something meaningful has been lost in their connection to the club and players. From her perspective as a former player and now executive, Averbuch West appreciates the complexities. 'Professionalization of a sport,' she said, 'is a very difficult process because it requires changes. As we push ourselves to improve, it's uncomfortable for us and it's uncomfortable for our fans, for our players, for our staff, and for everybody because we are going to do things differently. And we're going to push the envelope on things and that means that things will change.' According to Averbuch West and Dillon, Gotham has been particularly mindful of striking the right balance. They described how players regularly stay for more than an hour after matches to sign autographs for fans, but that, while appreciated, it didn't resolve the kind of access to players that fans had grown accustomed to over the years. So, the club created new types in-person and online virtual moments for fans to engage with players. These moments also allow Gotham to include more members of its growing fanbase. And they reflect a value Gotham leadership holds as important to the club and the New York metropolitan area it calls home. As Averbuch West added, 'We believe strongly that we need the community to power us to achieve what we want to achieve. We want to make the community proud. It's a very ambitious group of people who respect winners.' Gotham's recent successes on the field have helped earn that respect. Before the CONCACAF W Champions Cup victory, the team clinched the 2023 NWSL championship, a milestone recognized with a gold star above the crown in the team's logo. And the Champions Cup achievement also earned the club coveted spots in the high-profile 2026 FIFA Women's Champions Cup and the 2028 FIFA Women's Club World Cup international tournaments. The club's roster boasts some of the biggest stars in women's soccer. As Averbuch West remarked, 'We have some of the best athletes in the world. What we're doing is top in the world. It is world class and some of the best athletes in the world play here.' At one point last season, Gotham's roster included seven active members of the USWNT. This year, USWNT stars such as Rose Lavelle, Midge Purce, Lilly Reale, and Emily Sonnett headline a squad that also features international standouts from Germany, Brazil, England, Ghana, Spain, and Portugal. Putting a competitive squad on the pitch, creating a welcoming atmosphere on matchdays at the team's Sports Illustrated Stadium home ground in New Jersey, and promoting match broadcasts and livestreams are part of the marketing mix to strengthen Gotham's relationship with its fanbase and attract more of the public to the team. Player appearances at events around the community are part of that mix, too. The club is trying some new methods in that aspect of community relations and fan development. One example of that was Purce's appearance delivering the opening monologue during a performance of the Tony Award-winning Broadway show 'Chicago.' It was a tactical idea within a strategy that draws from Tisch Blodgett and Dillon's experience at Peloton, where they oriented marketing toward showcasing the fitness instructors—their personalities, talents, and stories—rather than the equipment itself, because that is what resonated most with members. 'There's an art and a science to it,' Dillon explained. 'The science is Broadway: twelve million people go through the door last year, seventy percent are women. They spend money on live events. Science-wise, it is a pretty good audience for us to go after. The art piece is about how it is fun, there's music, there's the emotional side of the experience, there's dancing, there's storytelling.' As Dillon further explained, 'It's the art and the science of great storytelling creativity, but delivered to a data-driven audience of who we believe are the next opportunity for us from a fanbase perspective.' Developing that includes thinking-through and delivering fewer initiatives, though ones that are 'actually needle-moving.' Gotham's social impact work is another portal for driving change, with efforts focused on access to soccer, women's advancement, sustainability, and advocacy for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. One result is the Keep Her in the Game program. Launched last year, it's aimed at addressing the disproportionate drop-off rate of girls participating in soccer. More than a thousand local girls have already taken part in the initiative. Dove, the personal care brand, joined as a sponsoring partner to underwrite, support, and help scale the program's reach. The club plans to celebrate the first anniversary of the program this August during a home match against the Washington Spirit, including with a fan fest prior to kickoff. There is a good deal of momentum in what Gotham is building on, off, and around the pitch. As Dillon put it, 'Doing well by doing good is very real. … It creates a flywheel of investment back into the game and neighborhood.' What Gotham is doing is more than an exercise in sustainable business, fan development, and goodwill through women's soccer. It's a blueprint for how the present is shaping the future of sports.
