Rose Lavelle scored in the first half and Gotham FC beat the Washington Spirit 1-0 on Wednesday night in a match at Citi Field that was dubbed the Queens Classic.
The game was a rematch of the last year’s National Women's Soccer League championship game, which Gotham also won 1-0 on a goal from Lavelle.
Gotham (8-3-3) announced that the game was a sellout with 42,175 tickets sold, a record for a women's sporting event in New York City.
Lavelle scored on a long chip from an angle to the far post in the 37th minute. It was her third goal of the season.
Sam Kerr subbed into the game for Gotham in the 64th minute, marking her return after more than six years at Chelsea.
The 32-year-old Kerr played for Sky Blue, which later became Gotham, and the Chicago Stars before signing with Chelsea in late 2019. She remains the NWSL’s top regular-season scorer with 77 career goals and led the league in scoring for three straight seasons from 2017-19. She won league MVP awards in 2017 and 2019.
Kerr, an Australian who is considered one of the best strikers in the world, signed with Gotham last month.
“It's weird, honestly,” Kerr said. “I spent most of the start of my career here, and then to go to Chelsea and be in Europe for so long, it's just so different."
Esme Morgan of the Spirit and Gotham’s Jordynn Dudley collided in the first half, resulting in Dudley subbing out of the match with a suspected concussion.
The loss ended the Spirit's three-game winning streak. Washington is 8-3-3.
The match was played with temperatures in the 90s and with an air quality advisory in New York because of wildfires in Canada. As a result of the conditions, there were two hydration breaks in each half.
Earlier this month, Gotham announced the team would start playing at the new Etihad Park adjacent to Citi Field starting in 2028.
Gotham typically plays its home matches at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey. The move to Queens is in partnership with the Major League Soccer club New York City FC, which is building the 25,000-seat Etihad Park.
The record for attendance at an NWSL match was set earlier this season when 63,000 watched the Denver Summit play the Spirit at the NFL Denver Broncos' home Empower Field.
Bárbara Olivieri's early goal led the visiting Boston Legacy to a 1-0 victory over the Orlando Pride.
The loss snapped a three-match home winning streak for the Pride (6-7-2).
Olivieri scored her first goal for the expansion Legacy (4-7-4) despite pressure from two defenders in the 17th minute.
Lizbeth Ovalle appeared to tie the score for the Pride with a goal from a corner kick, but it was disallowed because of interference on Boston goalkeeper Casey Murphy.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Gotham FC midfielder Rose Lavelle (16) during an NWSL soccer match against Denver Summit, on March 25, 2026 in Harrison, N.J. (AP Photo/Vera Nieuwenhuis, File)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s central bank on Thursday raised its key interest rate for the first time in more than three years, aiming to tighten money supply to combat inflation worsened by the intensifying war in the Middle East and slow the growth of the country’s high household debt.
Following a monetary policy meeting, the Bank of Korea raised its benchmark policy rate by a quarter percentage point from 2.5% to 2.75% in the first hike since January 2023.
The bank had kept rates steady or lowered them in recent years despite concerns about soaring household debt and real estate prices, prioritizing support for the country’s trade-dependent economy in the face of geopolitical turmoil and U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff hikes.
But policymakers now see room to increase borrowing costs with the economy performing better than expected, thanks to robust semiconductor exports driven by the global boom in artificial intelligence spending. The government on Tuesday raised the country’s 2026 growth outlook to 3%, which would be the highest annual growth rate since 2021.
Consumer price inflation exceeded 3% in both May and June, above the bank’s 2% target, driven by higher energy costs stemming from the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran and the weakness of the Korean won, which analysts attribute to the country’s dependence on imported energy and foreign capital flows.
There’s also concern about rising household debt, with higher real estate prices in Seoul and surrounding metropolitan areas and a rally in technology stocks fueling borrowing.
Despite the country’s chip-driven growth, the job market continues to be sluggish, particularly in manufacturing and sectors such as chemicals and energy, which have been hurt by disruptions linked to the war in the Middle East.
Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun Song said all seven members of the bank’s monetary policy committee supported raising the benchmark rate, saying it was necessary given trends in “all three aspects of growth, consumer prices and financial stability.”
“Inflation is expected to remain above the target level for a considerable period, and risks to financial stability also persist,” Shin said in a news conference, referring to the rising real estate prices, household debt and volatility in currency markets.
He said there was a need to raise borrowing costs further and that the “timing and pace of any additional rate hikes would depend on incoming data,“ while downplaying concerns that the bank’s policy could conflict with the government’s plans to increase spending to support the economy.
Thursday’s rate hike was widely expected after Shin said at the bank’s May policy meeting that interest rates should be raised at an “appropriate time.”
Bank of Korea Gov. Shin Hyun Song speaks during a press conference at the central bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, July 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Bank of Korea Gov. Shin Hyun Song speaks during a press conference at the central bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, July 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, July 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
