Rose Lavelle signs with reigning NWSL champion Gotham FC
Soccer star Rose Lavelle has changed teams in the National Women’s Soccer League.
After three seasons in Seattle with the OL Reign, Lavelle signed with NJ/NY Gotham FC on Thursday. The club announced she signed a multiyear contract through 2026, along with former U.S. Women’s National Team teammate Emily Sonnett.
“We are incredibly excited to have two exceptional talents like Rose and Emily join the club,” Gotham FC General Manager and Head of Soccer Operations Yael Averbuch West said in a press release. “Rose is a crafty and entertaining player, and our fans and club will be very excited to watch her at Red Bull Arena, and Sonnett is a true professional and competitor, who understands what success in the league looks like. The club and our fans are extremely excited to have players of their stature as we build upon the success of last season.”
Lavelle, a 2013 Mount Notre Dame High School graduate, will be inducted into the LaRosa’s High School Sports Hall of Fame this summer.
The NWSL regular season begins March 16 after the beginning of training camp in late January. The full 2024 NWSL schedule has not been announced. Racing Louisville FC and the Chicago Red Stars are the closest teams in the league to Cincinnati.
Lavelle helped OL Reign win the NWSL Shield for the best regular-season record in 2022.
After returning from injury in 2023, she appeared in seven matches and started in six across all competitions, recording one goal and two assists. The midfielder also helped OL Reign advance to the 2023 NWSL Championship match after she assisted the game-winning goal in the semifinals. Lavelle scored OL Reign’s only goal in the final. However, the club fell 2-1 to the eventual champions and her new club Gotham FC.
The former first overall pick in the 2017 NWSL Draft will be entering her eighth season in the NWSL, where she previously played for the Washington Spirit and Boston Breakers. She played for Manchester City in England during the 2019-20 season.
Lavelle has 92 USWNT caps and 24 goals and was a key part of the United States’ 2019 FIFA World Cup championship.
“Rose is an amazing talent, and we are very excited to have her as a part of the club,” Gotham FC Head Coach Juan Carlos Amorós said in a release. “She is a very exciting player to watch because of her creative and technical abilities. Rose brings so much to every team she is on, and I am very excited to work with her this season.”
On her Instagram account, Lavelle said, in part: “This has truly been the hardest decision I’ve had to make. It’s never easy saying bye to a place that has meant so much to me.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Rose Lavelle signs with reigning NWSL champion Gotham FC
