Sabrina Flores and Nicole Baxter answer the call, feature in friendly for Gotham FC
Sabrina Flores and Nicole Baxter answer the call, feature in friendly for Gotham FC
Although Gotham fell 3-1 to the visiting Chelsea FC, it was a night of positive takeaways for the team's two national team replacement players.
The ever-unpredictable National Women’s Soccer League one-upped itself on Monday night.
NJ/NY Gotham FC hosted European side Chelsea FC on August 19th in a friendly match which saw Heather O’Reilly getting called into the squad for the day, Heather O’Reilly getting removed from the squad an hour later, three featured goalkeepers, and minutes for two Gotham legends: Nicole Baxter and Sabrina Flores.
The two Jersey-born fan favorites have both technically retired from the game, Baxter in 2022 and Flores in 2023, but spectators at the game might have had no idea that the two friends were anything but roster-regulars on Monday. Baxter even had the chance to put away a second goal for Gotham, but was thwarted in the dying seconds of the match by a possible foul in the box.
“When the free kick was about to happen, I had a feeling it was it was going far post and in my head, I thought, I will be there to tap this ball in,” Baxter exclusively told Jenna’s Sources after the match. “The ball was coming to me in slow-motion, and I thought, no way this is about to happen, but then someone hit me from behind and it was game over.”
The last time Baxter played at Red Bull Arena, it was in Gotham’s infamous 3-3 draw with the Portland Thorns at the end of the 2022 season which denied the west coast team the NWSL Shield.
“I was really nervous, but it was fun,” Baxter said of entering Monday’s match. “I went in at a time where the game had slowed down a lot, so I was trying to not make it harder on the girls that I was playing with. I just kept running and tried to do everything I could to help because they were much more tired than I was.”
Flores, who had already seen some minutes this season during the NWSL Summer Cup, once again got to show her technical abilities with the Gotham crest.
“It was awesome,” Flores said of Monday’s friendly. “I feel like I’ve just been having a lot of fun the last couple of weeks, just having no expectations but just going out there and having fun.”
The pair credits their experience at earlier this year at TST 2024 playing for the Wrexham Red Dragons’ Women’s Squad with helping them prepare mentally for this moment.
“Had we not done TST, neither of us would have said yes to this opportunity because TST reminded us how much fun it can be to play and showed us that we can still play,” Baxter said. “Without that, I don’t think I would have felt confident saying yes to an experience like this.”
“I totally agree,” Flores said. “The timing of everything couldn’t have been better. It all came at the right moment.”
After the match, Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós praised Flores and Baxter for once again answering the call. The team was missing quite a few players due to injury and international duty and also had several minutes-restricted players rostered.
“Sabrina and Baxter have been fantastic as national team replacement players,” Amorós said. “They haven’t trained with the team for the last few weeks but they came in today and played against one of the best team in the world. I’m super proud and super thankful for them and hopefully we also see them in the Summer Cup final because that’s also in an international window. They fully deserve to be part of this group and part of this club. They’re outstanding.”
For longtime fans, it was incredible to see two players who helped build the foundation of Gotham get their moment to shine. As Gotham has continued to grow, attracting top talent from around the world, fans have not forgotten the past and the players who helped get the club to this moment.
“Last night we had a little of our past back,” said Cloud 9 supporters group member Margaret Liguori. “It was really cool to see two players who maybe didn’t always get the recognition they deserved during their original tenure with the team take the field for a match that was on the global stage. This league is built by players like Baxter and Flores, and I’m glad we got to showcase that a little bit.”
Although Flores and Baxter are only dipping their toes back into the NWSL, the two remain deeply impressed by how far the league has come since they first joined in 2019.
“Coming into this I was nervous, we hadn’t been playing a ton, but then I thought to myself, five years ago I would have never believed I’d have an opportunity to play on Gotham, at Red Bull Arena, against Chelsea,” Baxter said. “It’s really wild to think about where we started, both us as individuals, but also this club and this league. It’s unbelievable that we get to do this.”
For Baxter and Flores, getting to do this together not only provided motivation for them, but allowed them to look and feel comfortable on the field. “I couldn’t have done it without [Baxter],” Flores said.
In particular, both had to adjust to Gotham’s fluid style of play, the constant positional shifting, and continued high press.
“This team plays so fluidly that I was having trouble even understanding sometimes where I was supposed to be and Yazmeen [Ryan] just kept talking to me and telling me where to go,” Baxter said. “I was playing as a ten but then someone would go high, and everyone would fill in for each other.”
At one point in the match, Bruninha and Flores pushed high up the field and Baxter slid into more of a right back position — a role that is unfamiliar to the midfielder.
“That’s totally normal for this team, and it’s really good football, but it’s definitely new to me,” Baxter. “I think maybe I did it right.”
Although their time with the team has come to and end, they have both learned from this journey that you never know when opportunity will come knocking.”
It’s always such an honor to put on this jersey,” Flores said. “I feel very strongly about representing New Jersey. It was great to be on the field in any capacity, back with the girls, my best friends, and I’ll stay ready for whatever happens!”