A lot can change in a year.
asserted
lot → change → year
Jaedyn Shaw came to Gotham FC last September in dire need of a fresh start.
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Shaw → come → start
Now, 372 days later, Shaw is thriving as one of the central pieces of the NWSL-leading Gotham attack.
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Shaw → thrive → attack
Shaw has seven goals and five assists, leading the club in both categories.
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Shaw → have → categories
In her most recent game, she recorded a goal and an assist to propel Gotham to a 2-1 win against Racing Louisville.
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she → record → Louisville
Shaw’s big performance came on the one-year anniversary of her joining Gotham.
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her → come → Gotham
“Last year… honestly, it went pretty fast,” Shaw told The Post.
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Shaw → go → Post
“I feel like there’s been a lot of growth (and) more highs than lows.”
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I → feel → lows
Shaw arrived at Gotham last September from the North Carolina Courage carrying more than the weight of a record $1.25 million transfer fee.
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Shaw → arrive → fee
She carried some questions and uncertainty.
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She → carry → questions
Shaw had been widely viewed as a soccer prodigy.
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Shaw → view → prodigy
After committing to the University of North Carolina at only 14, Shaw ultimately bypassed college and turned professional at 17.
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Shaw → commit → 17
She’s the youngest player in NWSL history to score a goal and set a league record for most career goals by a teenager.
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She → ’ → teenager
But things in North Carolina weren’t clicking for Shaw.
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things → click → Shaw
She recorded just three goals and an assist in 19 matches.
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She → record → matches
She felt lost as she struggled to live up to the hype since joining the Courage.
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she → feel → Courage
Her confidence tanked.
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confidence → tank → ?
She fell out of the U.S. Women’s National Team’s rotation.
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She → fall → rotation
Gotham provided her with the new opportunity she desperately craved and she has been ascending ever since.
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she → provide → opportunity
But the pressure that once overwhelmed Shaw has given way to renewed confidence.
“There’s a lot of growth that’s happened over the last year,” Shaw said.
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Shaw → overwhelm → year
“I kind of really wanted to … show up consistently and to allow myself to know what it is that I can bring every single game and for, also, the team to be able to rely on me every single game for 90 minutes.”
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team → want → minutes
Gotham plays a fast-paced, fluid style.
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Gotham → play → style
There’s some structure, of course, but also a lot of freedom for players to be creative.
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players → ’ → freedom
Amorós said it was a “no-brainer” to add Shaw into Gotham’s system.
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it → say → system
“She really represents how we see the game, which obviously is a game you try to win but you try to win in a certain style that makes it fun for the people that play and the people that watch it,” Amorós said.
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Amorós → represent → it
“She’s a fun player, and she makes things that are different to everyone else, and I think herself feeling that confidence and trust [to] not be afraid of making mistakes and being able to express herself on the pitch, off the pitch, the way she is, I think that it’s definitely making her better.”
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her → ’ → pitch
In turn, it’s making the team better.
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team → make → turn
Gotham is 14-4-6 with 48 points — five points ahead of the rest of the field in the NWSL Shield race with six matches remaining before playoffs.
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matches → remain → playoffs
On Saturday, Shaw will return to her old stomping grounds to play the Courage.
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Shaw → return → Courage
She admitted, “It is a little weird coming back,” and facing her former team.
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It → admit → team
But so much has changed since she last suited up for the Courage.
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she → change → Courage
“It’s going to be a tough game,” Shaw said.
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Shaw → go → ?
“They’re kind of on a rip right now where things are coming together, so I think, like, for us, like, we really just gotta lock in.
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we → ’re → us
For me, I got to make sure I’m doing my part.
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I → got → part
Like I go into every game, I’m going to go into this game the same and yeah, just go out there and do what I know that I can do … and it’ll come with a result of the end.”
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it → go → end
The Aporia
