Subaru Park will host another NWSL game, and a USWNT viewing party, on Sunday

Before Gotham FC plays the Washington Spirit at 6 p.m., Union Yards will show the U.S.-Germany Olympic showdown at 3 p.m. Gotham has organized a fan fest for the viewing party.

South Jersey native Brittany Ratcliffe will be back at Subaru Park on Sunday when her Washington Spirit play Gotham FC.Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published July 27, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET

Women’s soccer will return to Subaru Park on Sunday when Gotham FC hosts the Washington Spirit at 6 p.m. in the NWSL’s Summer Cup tournament.

The timing caused a minor headache for local fans of the sport because the U.S. women’s national team plays its second game of the Olympics, against Germany, at 3 p.m. that day. It will end around 5 p.m., which doesn’t leave much time to get to a stadium long known for traffic issues.

But Gotham and the Union teamed up to fix the problem. Union Yards, the beer garden next to the stadium, will open at 2 p.m. and have the game on its big screens. Gotham has organized a fan fest around the game, with music, face painting, and other activities.

Gotham has six players on the U.S. squad, by far the most of any club: defenders Tierna Davidson, Jenna Nighswonger, and Emily Sonnett; midfielder Rose Lavelle; and forwards Crystal Dunn and Lynn Williams. They all played in Thursday’s tournament-opening 3-0 win over Zambia.

On Sunday, they’ll be across the field from one of their teammates, German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. She was in net for Thursday’s 3-0 win over Australia and made two saves.

Washington has four players on the U.S. team: defender Casey Krueger, forward Trinity Rodman (who scored an outstanding goal vs. Zambia), and alternate midfielders Croix Bethune and Hal Hershfelt. The Spirit also have Canada defender Gabrielle Carle overseas.

Those absences leave the teams shorthanded, though Gotham far more than Washington. The Spirit still have U.S. veteran forward Ashley Hatch, midfielder Andi Sullivan, and goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury, dynamic French forward Ouleymata Sarr; and South Jersey-born forward Brittany Ratcliffe.

Teams are allowed to sign short-term replacement players during major world tournaments, and Gotham signed North Wales native MacKenzie Pluck to such a deal. She was with Angel City last year and was on Racing Louisville’s preseason roster but didn’t make the cut.

Another replacement player, McKenna Whitham, could be the NWSL’s version of Union phenom Cavan Sullivan. The southern California native will turn 14 on Saturday — she’s 302 days younger than Sullivan — and scored a goal for Gotham in a preseason tournament in Colombia. has signed a contract with Gotham that will begin in full on Jan. 1.

Havertown native Sinead Farrelly, a former Gotham player who retired from playing earlier this year, told The Inquirer last month that she plans to be at the game as a fan.

Gotham opened its tournament run with a scoreless tie at the Chicago Red Stars last Saturday. The Bats’ attack missed not only its star Americans, but Spanish World Cup-winning striker Esther González, who is sidelined with a foot injury. It’s not clear when she’ll return.

Washington opened its tournament with a 2-1 win over Mexico’s Chivas, also at Subaru Park. The game didn’t draw a big crowd, but this one is expected to draw better. Gotham will have fans coming down from New York and North Jersey, and the club has had a cluster of fans in the Philadelphia area since its old days playing at Rutgers’ Yurcak Field as Sky Blue FC.

Gotham is the closest NWSL team to here geographically, and there’s been no sign lately of any efforts to bring an expansion team to the area.

Plenty of tickets remain available. If you want to go to the viewing party but not the game, you still will have to pay for parking at the game day rate.

Watch Party PHL, a fan group lobbying to bring a pro women’s sports team here, also is hosting a viewing party at South House, 2535 S. 13th Street.