Gotham, Tigres advance to Concacaf Champions Cup Final
Gotham FC is set to clash with Tigres UANL in Saturday's inaugural final of the Concacaf Women's Champions Cup.
Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League and Tigres UANL of Liga Mx Femenil have advanced to the final with emphatic victories over Club América and the Portland Thorns.
Gotham topped América 3-1, navigating through windy and rainy conditions Wednesday evening at Estadio Universitario in Monterrey, Mexico. Tigres' two unanswered goals against the Thorns in the first 28 minutes of the game sealed their fate later that night.
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The NWSL side started strong, with Brazilian striker Geyse volleying home a corner from Sarah Schupansky in the 21st minute, her second goal for the team since arriving from Manchester United in March. Gotham's second goal came from a penalty by Midge Purce, who also drew the foul in the box, her first since her return from her anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Just three minutes later, América's chances at advancing past the 2023 NWSL champions narrowed when defender Jana Gutiérrez deflected a rebound off the post into her own net and brought the score to 3-0.
Despite the early upset, América got on the board in the 38th minute through Spanish national Irene Guerrero, who took advantage of a deflection off a cross. The Mexican side looked more composed in the second half, creating more scoring opportunities especially after Sarah Luebbert (former Chicago Red Stars and University of Missouri standout) came on as substitute and threatened Gotham's defense.
The night's second semifinal served up a clash between NWSL heavyweights Portland Thorns and Liga MX Femenil powerhouse Tigres UANL, and it was all Tigres. The Mexican side dominated the game, taking advantage of Thorns' weakness in defense. Tigres' first goal came in the 10th minute from 21-year-old Aaliyah Farmer. Shortly after, South African national Thembi Kgatlana took advantage of goalkeeper Bella Bixby's grave error and scored Tigres' second goal in the 28th minute.
Thorns came back with two tactical substitutions the second time, bringing on Payton Linehan and Kaitlyn Torpey to inject pace and width on the right, but could not find goal positions as expected.
The final will take place at 7 pm ET Saturday. The winner of the Concacaf Women's Champions Cup secures a spot in the inaugural 2026 FIFA Women's Champions Cup and the 2028 FIFA Women's Club World Cup.
(Photo of Midge Purce from May 9: EM Dash / Imagn Images)
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