Back from the Olympics, Rose Lavelle and Jenna Nighswonger help Gotham FC make a statement to the NWSL

HARRISON, N.J. — The afterglow of the U.S. women’s soccer team’s Olympic triumph hung in the air along with the fireworks, smoke, and humidity as Gotham FC hosted the Portland Thorns on Saturday afternoon at Red Bull Arena.

The clubs contributed 12 of the record 56 NWSL players who spanned 11 teams in France this summer, including eight of the United States’ 22. And while not all 12 played Saturday, the full dozen were honored in a postgame ceremony with commissioner Jessica Berman, affirming the day as worthy of the national TV broadcast it received.

But that wasn’t the only purpose at hand. The league’s regular season resumed this weekend, and Gotham FC’s 2-0 win affirmed that the reigning champions have the firepower for another run at the title.

Even without the injured Crystal Dunn and Lynn Williams, the Bats dominated a Thorns squad that lacked Sam Coffey and Sophia Smith — both excused for further post-Olympics recovery — but had many other familiar names. Ella Stevens and Yazmeen Ryan scored the goals, the latter a 20-yard thunderbolt set up with some fancy footwork from superstar Rose Lavelle.

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The Ryan-Lavelle connection sparked to life instantly when the latter subbed on in the 54th minute, and it was no surprise. Ryan is a league veteran and one of its more underrated playmakers, and Lavelle is always a must-see. The crowd was electric every time she was in the action: a 59th-minute charge upfield that came to nothing, that assist to Ryan, a 20-yard curler off the crossbar in the 86th minute.

“It’s always great playing with her,” Ryan said. “I know where she wants it, I know that she’s going to give me the ball and that she sees my run, and so that makes decisions a little bit easier because you don’t have to overthink.”

That central dynamism is complemented by what Jenna Nighswonger, Brazil’s Bruninha, Dunn, and Williams bring attacking the flanks; what Spanish World Cup champion Esther González brings to the front line; and what defenders Tierna Davidson and Emily Sonnett and German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger bring to the back.

“There were moments where I’m just watching the team play, and I’m just so amazed,” Nighswonger said, even as by now she’s used to being surrounded by stars with club and country. The 23-year-old left back played in four of the U.S.’s six Olympic contests, and the gold medal was her first major title in what could be a long national team career.

All of the above names but Bruninha were gone during the Olympics, with González’s absence because of a foot injury. (Had she been healthy and picked by Spain, the NWSL would have had a player on every team in the tournament.)

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While they were away, teammates such as Stevens and Ryan fought their way to a berth in the final of the NWSL’s summer tournament with Mexican clubs. Such depth might give manager Juan Carlos Amorós headaches picking a lineup sometimes, but, as he said, “That’s my job, and I love it.”

Gotham will need it, too. Between now and Nov. 1, the Bats will play their remaining nine regular-season games, the final of the summer tournament, and four group-stage games in the inaugural Concacaf women’s Champions Cup, with midweek road trips to Costa Rica and Jamaica.

“We know now we’re not going to have a lot of time to prepare games,” Amorós said after what was his team’s fifth straight shutout in official games, and seventh straight game unbeaten in a year with just three losses overall. (That doesn’t count a 3-1 defeat to England’s Chelsea in an exhibition game last Monday, with both teams playing less-than-full squads.)

“It’s going to be about, ‘OK, so this is what we do: we go execute, players in, players out, everyone adding,’ and that’s what we saw today. And we saw how we can keep making Gotham successful while we make our game fun as well.”

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Even with the busy schedule, it’s hard to imagine Gotham not having a big say in how the rest of the regular season goes. Though the unbeaten Orlando Pride are a game clear of the field in first place, Gotham’s win Saturday pulled it level on points with the third-place Washington Spirit (34 each) ahead of the Spirit’s showdown with second-place Kansas City (35) on Sunday in D.C. (noon, CBS Sports Network).

“In the women’s game, there has never been a team with this many games, traveling as much as we’re going to travel in midweek,” Amorós said. “We are the team in the league that’s going to play the most games from now ’til the end of the year.”

But he’ll gladly take on that burden, too, because it means his team is winning.

“Obviously, it’s going to be tiring for us — more games to prepare [for], a lot of miles to cover,” he said, “but that’s the beauty of being us.”

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