Gotham FC interestingly trades Sarah Schupansky to Boston Legacy FC
On Friday afternoon, NJ/NY Gotham FC traded midfielder Sarah Schupansky to Boston Legacy FC in exchange for $50,000 in general allocation money and $30,000 in intraleague transfer funds. Schupansky joined the Bats "ahead of the 2025 season from the University of Pittsburgh and made 49 appearances across all competitions during her time with the club, recording one goal and eight assists in 2,511 minutes."
The $50,000 in allocation money acquired from Boston Legacy FC can be used through 2027. This means Gotham FC now has $400,000 in allocation money that remains available through 2027 after acquiring $350,000 for Lilly Reale back in June.
“Sarah has played an important role at Gotham FC over the past two seasons, and we’re grateful for the contributions she has made to our group,” said Yael Averbuch West, the president of soccer operations for Gotham FC. “She has approached every day with professionalism, dedication and a commitment to the club, and we’re proud to have played a part in the beginning of her professional career. We wish Sarah continued success in this next chapter.”
During her time with Gotham, Schupansky won the 2024-25 Concacaf W Champions Cup, the 2025 NWSL Championship, and the NWSL Challenge Cup title in 2026. She recorded five regular-season assists in her rookie season, which was the second-most in a season in club history. In addition, she had 63 corner kicks, which was also the second-most in a season for the Bats.
What led to up to this Gotham FC trade?
There are many reasons why this move ended up coming about. Part of it is Schupansky looking for more playing time, and part of it is Gotham FC potentially looking at more of a short-term win-now philosophy. The midfielder's minutes and appearances are down compared to 2025. She is currently on pace for just 808 minutes played this season compared to the 1107 she managed last season. She is also on pace for just 11 starts compared to 16 last season, despite this campaign being four games longer than last year.
It's a stark drop-off, especially after she started 2025 so well and looked like she could be a real contributor for the club. Schupansky earned the opportunity to start early in her rookie season in part due to Rose Lavelle missing the first half of 2025 while recovering from offseason surgery. But she was also impressive early and proved she should start.
However, as Lavelle came back from injury and back into the starting lineup, she and Schupansky found it difficult to coexist in the same midfield. Due to them having similar traits in that they are best when they have the ball at their feet, they kind of ended up cancelling each other out. The two only started five regular-season games together in 2025, managing just one win and four goals scored.
Unfortunately for Schupansky, she was the odd player out in that midfield as she didn't start the last seven games of the season, averaging just over eight minutes a game in those games. The two did start two playoff games together: the quarter-final against the Kansas City Current and the final against the Washington Spirit, which, of course, were victories. But those were won off the back of great defensive performances and not flowing attacking play, generating less than one xG in both matches.
Part of this could have been solved with a move back to the wing, which is where she pretty much exclusively played in college, from the attacking midfield. This was more of an obvious move with the signing of Sam Kerr. Schupansky's best asset is her crossing ability, and with Kerr being much more of a box presence than Esther González was at her time at the club, it felt like a positional change that would have suited Schupansky and Gotham.
This never materialized, and she continued to pretty much exclusively play as an attacking midfielder, mainly when Lavelle wasn't available for selection. This was in part due to the emergence of rookie Jordynn Dudley as a near-undroppable player on the right-wing and Jaedyn Shaw having a career year on the left-wing.
Why would Gotham make this move?
As mentioned, the emergence of both Dudley and Shaw as key starters, as well as Lavelle having her healthiest season to date, made Schupansky expendable in Gotham's eyes. Add to that her only earning two minutes total and basically being a non-factor during their current four-game winning streak, the NJ/NY side and Schupansky may have felt the time was right to make this move.
Another motivating factor might be Lavelle's contract expiring at the end of the season. It is no secret that Gotham's strategy for navigating the salary cap has been to hoard allocation money. This trade nets them an extra $50,000 that will undoubtedly go towards re-signing Lavelle or even other high-profile free agents like Jess Carter and Ann-Katrin Berger. And while Schupansky is a young player who can contribute now and in the future, if losing her is part of the trade-off of being able to keep Lavelle, then that seems like the smart pathway moving forward.
There is a bigger conversation about Gotham's win-now mentality and how it will affect them in the future. A lot of their key players are in their early 30s, which can be concerning, but the club has shown in recent years that they can attract college free agents and also remake the roster in an offseason without having to sacrifice much quality. Questions remain about their development of younger players, as many of those college free agents have been traded less than two years after signing, but that issue is currently on the back burner as they continue in "win-now" mode.
And frankly, if this season results in one or even two more trophies, having such a veteran-heavy team becomes worth it. General manager Yael Averbuch West has shown proficiency in retooling the roster in an offseason. Plus, the team is a marquee destination for many players both domestic and abroad, with many attractive features such as the location, winning pedigree, new training facility, new stadium, and also head coach Juan Carlos Amorós being someone players want to play for; Gotham FC can afford to sacrifice the future for the here and now.
