Gary Gibson
soccerovergotham@gmail.com
Gotham gets out of Segra field with a point in a very good matchup of two top teams. Here are three things we learned.
Taryn Torres is the heir apparent to Allie Long's 6 spot. Taryn had a rough go of it early where she was seemingly overwhelmed by nerves and the speed of the game. Almost providing a gift or two to the spirit attackers early on. But as she settled in, Taryn looked the part of a player who has all the tools to be a special player. With Allie Long's excused absence Taryn has a real chance to stake her claim at that position so that even when Allie returns there will be some cause for rotation.
Ali Krieger is seemingly the only locked down starter at center back and her partner will be based upon matchup. Against speedier attacks like the Rodman led spirit, Gotham went with Estelle Johnson. Estelle covers the most ground of the center backs and did extremely well against Trinity one in one situations. Expect more rotation during the challenge cup to avoid injuries but expect Ali to anchor the back line. Gotham has the deepest center back pool in the league.
There is a real rivalry growing here between the Spirit and Gotham FC. True rivalries are built on the field and in games that matter. The games between the Spirit and Gotham have been extremely tight. You'd have to go back to August 2019 to find a game that was decided by more than one goal. Even going to penalties during the 2020 challenge cup. We'll see what happens on April 17th when the two teams battle at Red Bull Arena. Get your tickets. Get your popcorn.