Gotham FC hoping new-look roster will lead to second NWSL title run

A year ago, NJ/NY Gotham FC had fielded what many believed was a superteam.

With a retooled roster, headlined by several U.S. Women’s National Team players — including Rose Lavelle, Crystal Dunn, Emily Sonnett and Tierna Davidson — Gotham seemed poised for a valiant defense of its 2023 title last season.

But they fell just short, losing in the NWSL semifinals on penalties.

In the four months since that harrowing finish, Gotham experienced an exodus of several high-profile players, which forced general manager and head of soccer operations Yael Averbuch West to restock her roster again.

All the work Averbuch West and her staff have put in since last November has been building up to this moment.

A new campaign begins Saturday when Gotham travels to Seattle for its season opener.

This time around, the superteam label has faded — not that Averbuch West ever considered it in regard to her team. But winning the franchise’s second title remains Gotham’s ultimate goal.

“When we look at our roster, we’re really excited about things for next year,” Averbuch West told The Post. “We have a number of returning players who have performed extremely well here, and we’re excited to see them continuing to grow with the club.”

In a lot of ways, Averbuch West views 2024 as a success.

Gotham went 17-5-4 to finish third in the NWSL standings. They set a team record for fewest goals conceded (20) and finished with a plus-21 goal differential, which was the league’s fourth-best mark.

Ultimately, though, the season came to a harrowing end when Gotham lost in the semifinals to the Washington Spirit on penalties.

“It’s our goal to win the championship every year, and I think we all feel proud of what we accomplished,” Averbuch West said. “We improved in a lot of ways on 2023. … Almost every other way that you can measure we improved, which is our ultimate goal is to improve the consistency of how we look every single weekend.”

Star-studded rosters can present a good problem in terms of having a lot of talent, but not enough playing time.

The roster turnover raised some red flags. But Averbuch West doubled-down on Gotham’s vision.

“It’s not sunny 365 days here,” she said. “It’s not an easy, laid-back experience. It’s a very challenging experience with the aim of always pushing to get better, and that’s what we commit to here, and that’s what we expect of our players.”

Forward Delanie Sheehan and defender Sam Hiatt left in free agency, and Gotham granted USWNT forwards Lynn Biyendolo and Yazmeen Ryan’s trade requests.

U.S. Olympians Crystal Dunn and Jenna Nighswonger are also gone.

Dunn, who missed the final 10 games of last season for an “excused absence,” signed with Paris Saint-Germain, and Gotham sent Nighswonger to Arsenal for a transfer fee of $100,000.

The reasons for each players’ departure varies. In some cases, such as Dunn’s, Gotham wasn’t “a perfect fit” for what they needed.

Averbuch West doesn’t want to dwell on who’s gone.

“We did retain a lot of talent,” she said. “We also brought in some really big talent.”

The returners include Gotham’s top three goal scorers from last season — Esther Gonzalez, Lavelle and Ella Stevens. They also signed Brazilian star forward Gabi Portilho and midfielder Jaelin Howell, and added UCLA standouts in defender Lilly Reale, midfielder Sofia Cook and goalkeeper Ryan Campbell.

Averbuch West said Reale is “arguably the most professionally ready player coming out of the college game.”

Reale is a three-time conference defensive player of the year honoree (Pac-12 in 2022 and 2023, Big Ten in 2024.) She had spent part of last summer training with Gotham, and the coach’s feedback from those sessions was that “she’s already a pro.”

“She’s really ready,” Averbuch West said. “But also very hungry to continue to learn and grow and develop her game.”

The main takeaway from The Post’s conversation with Averbuch West was her desire to see “consistency” and “growth” this season and beyond.

“We want to perform well game in and game out,” she said. “We really focus on the things that we need to do every day to kind of ensure the consistency in our performance on the field and then we believe that all of the rest kind of followed based on that.”