Rose Lavelle celebrated her return from injury and her debut for Gotham FC with a stoppage-time equalizer in a 1-1 draw against Racing Louisville on Sunday.
Lavelle has not appeared in a match for club or country since suffering a leg injury while on USWNT duty at the W Gold Cup at the start of this year. She entered Sunday’s match as a 74th-minute substitute for Lynn Williams with the score tied 0-0.
Reilyn Turner had seemingly delivered three points away from home for Louisville with a goal in the fifth of 10 minutes of stoppage time, but Lavelle’s equalizer came not long after, off an assist from Ella Stevens in the 97th of stoppage time.
“I mean, it’s never fun to start the year injured,” Lavelle said after the game. “So that was kind of frustrating but, I think credit to like the team and the staff, they helped much of me get me back out there, made it fun for me, and I think the crowd was great. You never want to fall behind in stoppage, but I think our reaction to that was really great and to get the goal immediately after was it was good.”
Rose to the occasion 🤩
Lavelle pulls Gotham level just in time! pic.twitter.com/QLCNNcQIA8
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 28, 2024
The goal marks a significant milestone for Lavelle, who will likely be part of the first USWNT squad to be named by incoming head coach Emma Hayes next month.
“Credit to Ella, she was there and did all the heavy lifting for me and all I had to do was tap it in,” Lavelle told the NWSL broadcast after the match. “That’s the NWSL, it’s wild. But it’s fun!”
Despite the positive result, Gotham is still looking for its first home win of the season, and ends the NWSL weekend in 11th place out of 14 teams.
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(Photo: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)
