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NJ/NY Gotham FC has a complicated history with San Diego. Not only has the team never won against Wave FC, but the team’s last game at Snapdragon stadium in August left Gotham with multiple injuries, including season ending ones for McCall Zerboni, Taylor Smith and goalkeeper Abby Smith.
“It was probably one of the hardest games in my coaching career, if not the hardest,” said Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós ahead of Saturday’s game. “We had four people really getting hurt and ended the game with [field player] Nealy Martin in goal and ten players, two to nil in injury time.”
Despite the adversity, Gotham managed a late stoppage time goal from Katie Stengel to deny the Wave a clean sheet. Even down by two, it was that game that proved to Amorós that his team could truly take it all the way in their worst-to-first journey to a National Women’s Soccer League Championship.
“I remember the opposition asking for the game to finish and thinking, my team is really a champion,”…
