Your MD-1 notebook
By Lesley Ryder
The Challenge Cup may have found its final form.
Defending NWSL champions Gotham FC and the defending Shield winners Kansas City Current will play for the Challenge Cup title tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio. This will be the third time the Challenge Cup is played in a Super Cup format, but the first time it’s played at a neutral site.
Previously on Gotham vs Kansas City…
Gotham and Kansas City have become familiar foes. These teams have traded jabs in the regular season, and with trophies on the line. At the NWSL x LigaMX Summer Cup final in 2024, Temwa Chawinga’s first half brace secured a 2-0 win for the Current.
In the 2025 playoffs, top-seeded Kansas City fell to 8th-seed Gotham thanks to Katie Lampson’s (née Stengel) last gasp goal in the 121st minute. But earlier this season, it was Kansas City with the upper hand in a 2-1 win at CPKC Stadium.
So is vengeance on the mind in KC with a trophy on the line? Lo’eau Labonta is inclined to agree. “I know it's a cup game, it's out of season, but we want to win this” Labonta said in the team’s media availability. “We beat them earlier in the year, and that felt good, but this, it kind of brings it back a little more to the playoffs. So, absolutely, we want to get that win.”
How was your break?
The Challenge Cup will be the first NWSL match after the league-mandated summer break. With Gotham racking up airline miles since January’s FIFA Women’s Champion Cup, the time off allowed the team to rest. “We came back with so much energy, both staff and players. So it really shows how much it’s valuable to everyone” said Gotham defender Tierna Davidson.
Coming out of the break allows teams to put in time on the training pitch that can sometimes get lost in the churn of the regular season. It also allows time for players to work back from injury. “We’re the healthiest we’ve ever been.” KC Current head coach Chris Armas said in the team’s presser. “The meal room’s getting more full, training’s getting more numbers and energy comes with that.”
A moment for Ohio soccer
Columbus, Ohio hosts the Challenge Cup just two months after the NWSL awarded its 18th franchise to the city. In 2024 both Cleveland and Cincinnati were named finalists for expansion, but lost out to Denver.
Gotham and the KC Current bring rosters with Ohians by birth, and by Buckeye. Cincinnatti-born Rose Lavelle has seen the state’s influence on the field. “I do think it's a really underrated soccer state with a lot of talent coming out of it,” Lavelle told reporters in the mixed zone.
Lavelle also shared her excitement for young Ohio soccer players to have a team of their own. “I think it's so cool to be able to have a team in your own backyard that you can really see every single day and relate to. I think it was so huge for me to have that,[with the USWNT] so I think it's really special for it to be in my home state, just knowing how many young girls are going to get to that.”
Kansas City’s Izzy Rodriguez made an important first stop on her return to Columbus: Graeter’s Ice Cream. The 2020 Big Ten Player of the Year at Ohio State believes Columbus will prove to be great sports town. “I feel really proud to come from a place like this, and to have a team here, I think there's going to be a lot of excitement.”
Sonnett extends
Earlier today Gotham FC announced they’ve extended Emily Sonnett’s contract through the 2028 season. She spoke about her decision-making process in Gotham’s pre-match presser “I thought about my development. I know I’m getting older, but it’s always continuing.” She also praised the team’s high-caliber talent.
Tierna Davidson reminded the presser’s audience that Emily Sonnett has won three NWSL Championships on three different teams. “Wherever she’s going, she’s winning. To be able to learn from her and develop that [defensive] partnership, I think we balance each other out quite well. So it's been a joy.”
Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amoros made a point to finish the team’s availability giving Sonnett her flowers. “We are incredibly proud that someone of her caliber decided to stay with the club. He added “She's such a winner, such an integral part of the way we play, and the way we do things.”
Friday night’s match will kick off at 8PM Eastern Time on Amazon Prime.