NWSL super team NJ/NY Gotham FC, San Diego Wave show different types of ambition ahead of NWSL Challenge Cup

Friday's Challenge Cup serves as the unofficial start to the NWSL season

HARRISON, N.J. -- From last October, everything has seemingly come up NJ/NY Gotham FC in the NWSL. The club picked up their first-ever playoff win in the league, won their first championship and then signed four of the most sought-after free agents to earn the moniker of super team heading into the 2024 season. Friday, though, will be the first opportunity for Gotham to prove their credentials as the team to beat in the NWSL Challenge Cup, where they will host the San Diego Wave for each team's first chance at silverware this season.

Gotham have a 2023's sixth-place finish in the regular season -- not their championship -- as the measuring stick for their 2024 success, but expectations are very high for a team boasting seven U.S. women's national team players. Simply put, it's a team that most onlookers believe should not just compete, but win trophies and so it feels like the team needs to make a statement in the Challenge Cup matchup.

The team is taking a deceptively cautious approach, one that most others around the league are probably also taking -- the one-day-at-a-time strategy.