SAN JOSE, Calif — The week leading into Saturday’s NWSL Championship was dominated by distress over the future of Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, and the league’s inability to retain its biggest star due to the limitations of the salary cap.

But as the final minutes ticked away at PayPal Park on Saturday, Gotham FC midfielder Rose Lavelle was the star of the moment, the player who found that “magic,” as head coach Juan Carlos Amoros called it the day prior, for a 1-0 victory over Washington.

Brilliance in those moments that matter carried Gotham through another unlikely playoff run to its second championship in three seasons.

Lavelle’s trademark left foot curled a shot into the net in the 80th minute in one of the rare moments of transition in a match that was mostly a midfield stalemate. Gotham’s victory completed a storybook playoff run and left the steady, consistent Spirit stuck as runners-up for the second straight year.

– Commissioner Berman puts NWSL ‘on notice’ for calendar change
– Kassouf: NWSL faces litmus test to retain Trinity Rodman’s star power
– Kansas City’s Chawinga becomes first back-to-back NWSL MVP

Gotham’s championship triumph is the epitome of knockout soccer and the right timing to survive and advance. Gotham did exactly that throughout these playoffs, scraping by at times to defeat the record-setting Kansas City Current in the final seconds of extra time before knocking off the defending champions Orlando Pride in stoppage time on their only shot on goal in that semifinal.

On Saturday, a series of unfortunate events upended the Spirit and benefitted Gotham. Moments before Lavelle’s goal, Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt went down with an injury and Washington played several minutes down a player as Hershfelt received treatment on the sideline. She eventually hobbled back onto the field to bring the Spirit back to 11 players as head coach Adrian Gonzalez prepared a substitute, but the match went on, and Gotham fullback Bruninha broke through down the left side and delivered a cutback cross to Lavelle 18 yards out in the central area that Hershfelt had otherwise commanded throughout the match.

Hershfelt and Croix Bethune patrolled the midfield for Washington, but Lavelle, Jaedyn Shaw, and Jaelin Howell canceled out the Spirit’s attempt to control the central areas. Gotham was neither flashy nor spectacular, but they were once again successful. It wasn’t luck, and in truth it wasn’t really magic — not in the Hocus Pocus kind of intangible way.

The “underdog” label for this Gotham team was always superficial. This is a team that won the Concacaf title earlier this year, a team that pushed toward the top of the league a year ago, a team filled with stars, from Lavelle to Shaw and Esther González.

But it is also a team that has wildly underperformed throughout the year, which is why it had to take the hard road to this title.

Gotham’s success is also ironic: A team that Amoros built to be interchangeable and fluid was dragged through the playoffs largely by its stars.

Shaw registered a goal and an assist in the quarterfinal win over the top-seeded Current, followed by the game-winner in the semifinal over the 2024 champion Orlando Pride. On Saturday, it was Lavelle’s left foot that made the difference.

Gotham, with two championships in three years and a Concacaf crown, has mastered the art of knockout soccer.

And that is the beauty of the NWSL and the playoff system, the unpredictable “superpower” the commissioner Jessica Berman and executives rave about. Nobody could be fooled into thinking that Gotham was the best team over the course of the NWSL season. Kansas City set records for points and wins while clinching the Shield by a commanding 21 points.

But Gotham earned its trophy by beating that Kansas City team, followed by last year’s champions.

The NWSL’s biggest story was and still is Rodman and her future. Rodman, however, was mostly a non-factor for the 30-plus minutes that she played off the bench on Saturday due to the limitations of the MCL sprain that she sustained last month. For the second straight year, the USWNT star played through pain on the losing end in an NWSL Championship loss.

After the match, she sat on the bench briefly before slowly walking across the field to embrace her boyfriend, tennis star Ben Shelton. Whether that was Rodman’s last walk across an NWSL stadium for the foreseeable future is unknown.

Saturday, however, was about a Gotham team that kept finding a way to win throughout November, even when it was outplayed. This is the sweet uncertainty of sports, and especially the NWSL, at its finest.

Sports — and championships — are about moments. They are moments of brilliance for one team and poor fortune for another. Gotham bided its time through the “high highs and low lows,” as Lavelle described it on Friday.

A day later, one moment of brilliance from Lavelle delivered the ultimate high.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As the San Francisco 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk careen toward a crossroads on their future together, plenty of important questions remain unanswered.

On Saturday afternoon, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed the team voided about $27 million in 2026 guarantees on Aiyuk’s contract in late July and then spent most of his news conference fielding many of those leftover queries about Aiyuk’s status. In the ensuing 11 minutes and 54 seconds, Shanahan alternated between offering insight and declining to provide specifics.

One thing is for certain: Shanahan isn’t used to such an uncommon scenario.

“I’ve been coaching over 20 years, and I’ve never been in a situation where a contract’s been voided,” Shanahan said. “It’s extremely unusual to me.”

The top question of the day was what exactly Aiyuk did (or didn’t do) for such a drastic contract measure to be taken. Shanahan was asked repeatedly and offered hints, acknowledging that Aiyuk missed some meetings and team activities but also pointed out that players with significant injuries, such as Aiyuk’s right knee injury, don’t always take part in all those things anyway.

Aiyuk was in the team facility doing rehab as recently as Friday, according to Shanahan.

Sources said that Aiyuk’s voided guarantees were a result of him not living up to the terms of his contract, which could include questions about his participation in required rehab and team activities, though Shanahan indicated there was more to it without offering further details.

“It takes a lot of things to get a contract voided,” Shanahan said. “I’ve never dealt with that in my career and been in any building that’s had that. It was unusual. But that’s stuff that I can’t get into right now.”

As for where things stand between the team and Aiyuk, Shanahan said the Niners have not medically cleared him to return. Asked whether Aiyuk and the Niners are on the same page when it comes to his efforts to return, Shanahan demurred.

“I can’t tell you that,” Shanahan said. “I am not getting much dialogue just personally between him and I, and I’ve been told that it’s week to week, so each week I wait to see if he’s ready to come back for practice and I haven’t got that answer yet.”

Still, Shanahan said he and the 49ers are hoping Aiyuk will return to play this season. For now, Aiyuk is on the physically unable to perform list but is eligible to open his 21-day practice window at any point.

On Saturday, fellow receivers Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall said they’ve been in contact with Aiyuk, though both said they don’t really discuss the business side of things with him.

“I think he’s doing fine,” Pearsall said. “It’s hard because he’s a quiet guy, he’s to himself, but as much as I can reach out to him and show love his way because he’s done that throughout my journey. I’m just trying to pay my dues back to him and I think he’s doing good.”

Given the uncertainty that comes with having guaranteed money voided, it’s fair to wonder if Aiyuk might have already played his final game as a Niner.

If the 49ers move on from Aiyuk in the offseason, the voiding of 2026 guarantees means they will realize more cap savings than they would have otherwise, though there will still be a lot of dead money from accelerated prorated signing (2024) and option (2025) bonuses.

An outright release with no post June 1 designation means the Niners would incur a dead cap charge of $29.585 million. Beyond next season, Aiyuk is scheduled to receive base salaries of $27.274 million in 2027 and $29.15 million in 2028.

Shanahan said Saturday he is not thinking about parting ways with Aiyuk.

“What happened in July doesn’t have anything to do with the future,” Shanahan said. “That had to do with circumstances that, to me, were out of a coach’s hand. … When it comes to the future of this, I would love for BA to be here. I would love for him to get healthy and get back to really helping us out and being part of his team. We haven’t had that in a little bit, and I still hold out hope that he can get there, but he obviously hasn’t gotten there yet.”

Aiyuk signed his four-year, $120 million extension on Aug. 29, 2024, after an often contentious standoff. Through the process, the Niners had trades that would send Aiyuk to the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers agreed upon. In each case, Aiyuk vetoed the situation so he could ultimately stay in San Francisco.

If Aiyuk doesn’t play another game for the Niners, he will have been paid $48 million to appear in seven games after signing the extension. In those contests, he had 25 receptions for 374 yards and no touchdowns.

At this year’s training camp, there had been optimism that Aiyuk was coming around. At one point, Shanahan and receivers coach Leonard Hankerson praised him for his participation in meetings. Since, Aiyuk’s presence has become increasingly scarce. Aiyuk has also not been around at the portions of practice open to media and has not been in the locker room during media sessions

Asked Saturday what changed in that time, Shanahan said, “You’d have to ask him.” Shanahan was then asked if he believes Aiyuk is motivated to return to the field this season.

“I don’t think that really matters,” Shanahan said. “I think everyone might have a different opinion of that. … I was told a few weeks ago he was getting closer and we haven’t made progress in that way so far. From my standpoint, I’m just waiting for him to get back to practice.”