The final quarterfinal of this year's NWSL Playoffs felt like the changing of the guard, in a way. The Portland Thorns, the league's most successful team, were the underdogs against NJ/NY Gotham FC, the reigning champions who surprised many by winning last season's championship after a history of being one of the NWSL's bottom-dwellers.

Luckily, Gotham FC did not do that by any means. They dominated Portland to win 2-1 despite some defensive mistakes and poor attacking quality at times. Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle scored for the Bats, with Lavelle scoring the winning goal in stoppage time.

Rose Lavelle scored in stoppage time and Gotham FC defeated the Portland Thorns 2-1 to advance to the semifinals of the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs

With Ali Krieger’s help, we picked out five Gotham FC players to watch in Sunday’s playoff clash against Portland:

New Jersey soccer fans turned out in force to watch Gotham FC outlast Portland in the team's first home National Women's Soccer League playoff match.

Rose Lavelle may have scored the dramatic game-winner, but Gotham's victory on Sunday was propelled by their lesser lights.

Rose Lavelle scores the winning goal for No. 3 seed Gotham in the final game for Thorns legend Christine Sinclair.

Gotham FC waited 11 seasons—14 if you count WPS—to treat their fans to a playoff game in New Jersey. In the end it was Rose Lavelle’s goal seven minutes into stoppage time that delivered Gotham a 2-1 victory over the Thorns and a trip to Washington for next weekend’s National Women’s Soccer League semifinals.

Revenge is on the cards when reigning NWSL champions NJ/NY Gotham FC hosts the Portland Thorns in the quarterfinals of the playoffs on Sunday, Nov. 10. In the 2023 semifinals, Gotham was the underdog lower-seed traveling out west to face Portland.