Ella Stevens’ late-game goal leads Gotham over Red Stars

Before it became a record-breaking goal, Lynn Williams shifted toward the left post — uncovered — and waited. It was open.

“So open,” she said, to the point where she didn’t want her eyes to “get too big.”

Gotham FC’s Esther González had captured the rest of the Chicago Red Stars’ attention, with a cross-field pass soaring toward her right foot.

But instead of tapping the ball toward Chicago’s net, Gonzalez lifted her foot, directed it toward Williams and watched as the forward’s 79th NWSL goal transpired — passing Sam Kerr and breaking the league mark for career goals.

Gotham (3-2-3) still needed a goal from Ella Stevens in the 90th minute to extend their unbeaten streak to five matches with a 2-1 win over Chicago (5-3-1) at Red Bull Stadium.

But it was fitting that Williams, a veteran and source of continuity on a roster filled with newcomers, ignited the offense in what became Gotham’s first match with multiple goals in 2024.

“I’m just really proud of myself,” Williams said. “I think that I have exceeded a lot of people’s expectations. I think that for a very long time, I have believed in myself, and a lot of moments along the way, I’ve been told, ‘No, you’re not good enough.’

“Sometimes, we see all of the glory and all of the big moments, but there’s a lot of tears behind the scenes. And so I’m just gonna hopefully enjoy this moment.”

Williams needed to navigate a “lot of ups and downs” to reach this point.

The highs of the appearances with the United States women’s national team were offset by lows such as sustaining a season-ending hamstring injury in the first NWSL game of 2022.

She joined Gotham last season via trade, made her injury return, helped them win the title and scored a team-high seven goals.

“She’s the best … defensive forward on the planet,” Gotham FC manager Juan Carlos Amorós said.

And on Sunday, Williams helped Gotham control the bulk of the game’s possession early, pairing with Rose Lavelle — making her first Gotham start and logging a season-high 61 minutes — to create scoring chances.

Lavelle, who missed the first four matches with a leg injury, nearly set up González for a goal in the ninth minute and again 24 minutes later.

It didn’t take long for Chicago to equalize after Williams’ tally, though.

Penelope Hocking snuck between a pair of Gotham defenders and tucked the rebound into the net after Ann-Katrin Berger made the initial save in the 74th minute.

And that’s where it all stayed until nearly the end.

Until Williams almost added to her record by scoring again on multiple occasions.

Until Stevens, who subbed in for Lavelle, deposited a header for her second goal of the season in the 90th minute to salvage the extra points.

Gotham still has managed just two goals just once this season, still has adjusted and tweaked — and kept adjusting and kept tweaking — its lineup with all of the injuries. But again on Sunday, there were signs that everything had started to come together.

“I think it looks better every single time we go out there,” Williams said.