It's a Rookie Revolution at Gotham FC, led by Sarah Schupansky and Lilly Reale

Last night's match away at Houston wasn't the most exciting match, but Gotham's rookies had standout performances

It was a seemingly normal March evening at Sarah Schupansky’s place. The 21-year-old Pittsburgh grad had already made a couple of appearances for her first professional club team NJ/NY Gotham FC, and so far, she was adjusting well to life as a pro.

She assembled her homemade tacos and sat down at the table, when suddenly, her phone rang — it was her head coach Juan Carlos Amorós letting her know that she was in the U.S. women’s national team pool and there was a possibility for a callup into the U23 camp in April.

Although the forward was a standout college athlete, she had never been in the U.S. system before. The news shocked her. Could a callup be in her future?

Then one day before practice, Amorós pulled her aside with the news. She was going into camp.

“My dreams became reality,” Schupansky said. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity. I have never been in the system before so to get the call up it was kind of surreal.”

Schupansky’s shock didn’t last long. With the international break upon her, she is ready to attend the U23 camp and utilize everything she’s learned while at Gotham both from her coaching staff and her teammates."

“I wouldn’t be able to be in this position and have this experience without Gotham, Juan, and this team,” she said. “Practicing with this team every day and playing games like this, I’m going into the camp feeling very confident. I hope that I can make them proud on the national stage.”

Schupansky joins her fellow rookie, defender Lilly Reale in the U23 camp which runs from March 31 to April 7 in California. The two received back-to-back starts in the last two games and have showed exactly why Gotham recruited them out of college.

“They both have been fantastic and I couldn’t be prouder of both of them,” Amorós said after the match against Houston. “Lilly’s adapting to a new position and has been outstanding. She was brilliant defensively today and offensively we could have actually have won the game in that last cross from her. She was dominant against every player.”

Reale’s stats speak for themselves. The rookie lead the team in tackles won (5) and was behind only Bruninha in crosses attempted (4) and completed passes in the final third (10).

Although it was a quiet night offensively, Schupansky stood out in her chance creation and tied Reale on crosses attempted. With the absence of Rose Lavelle due to injury, Schupansky has certainly stepped up, and according to Amorós, is earning her starting spot every single day.

In fact, Gotham had their eyes on Schupansky for quite some time. The forward attended a couple of training sessions with Gotham during 2024, and Amorós knew then she was a special player who has an incredibly high ceiling.

“The way she’s applying the concepts, her technical ability, her attitude, she’s really adapting to the style, the league, and the pro world fantastically well,” Amorós said. “I was talking to her the other day about the callup, she was over the moon. It was her first time, which was very surprising for me because I think she’s a top, top player.”

With the upcoming international break, the team has a little bit of time to regroup, work on their on-field connections, and be the team that they all know they can be. Friday’s game against Houston was not Gotham’s best offensive showing, (9 shots on goal, 2 on target, and an xG of 0.38) neither the coaches nor the players are concerned.

“Juan keeps reiterating that this is a process, it’s just step by step,” Schupansky said after the match. “I think we needed to be a little but more effective in the final third tonight but with time that will come, I know it will. I’m excited for it to finally fall into place and for everyone to get to see how incredible we can be in the final third, but it’ll come. I promise, I promise guys, it’ll come.”