Jordynn Dudley makes impact as Gotham FC battles to draw vs. Legacy

On a Gotham FC roster that has some well-known names in women’s soccer, Jordynn Dudley is quickly joining that list.

While the Florida State product and Rookie of the Month for April had her stretch of three straight matches with a goal snapped in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with the Boston Legacy, the 21-year-old forward has been a force for the reigning NWSL champs.

Dudley had an early chance from outside the box that Boston goalkeeper Casey Murphy stopped in the ninth minute.

Then the exciting rookie created chaos in the closing minutes of the match when she had a pair of shots from inside the box blocked by defenders, missed a header wide right and helped set up a close-range shot by Lilly Reale that forced Murphy to make a stop.

“I think that she’s just unpredictable. She can do anything,” Jaedyn Shaw said about Dudley. “She can hold the ball up, she can run it behind, she can dribble, she can combine. I think as a defender, it’s really scary to come up against her, and I think to have her on our team, we’re really lucky to have her.”

Dudley’s rise to prominence didn’t come without a bit of a slow start in her Gotham career. Through the first five games of the regular season, she started just once and came off the bench the majority of the time before solidifying her place in the starting XI in late April.

Dudley recorded an assist April 24 against Bay FC and then scored the first NWSL goal of her career 46 seconds into the next match against Chicago. She’s continued to make her presence felt since.

“I think she’s a super exciting player to watch any time she gets the ball,” Sarah Schupansky said. “You know that she’s going to do perhaps the best to create for herself or the team. … This coaching staff has done a great job of finding a position for her on the field where she feels like she can exhibit her skills and thrive, and really be herself.

“She’s an incredible player. I think that she worked through a lot at the very beginning of this season. It’s never easy to come in as a rookie, especially onto a team like this, a roster like this. So for her to work her way into a starting position and continue to thrive within that position, I think that’s a testament to the type of player that she is.”

Saturday’s match at Sports Illustrated Stadium not only brought in a crowd of 11,308 — the fourth-largest regular-season attendance in Gotham FC history — it brought out U.S. Women’s National Team coach Emma Hayes.

And it gave Dudley, who had been called up to the USWNT U-23 camp in April, a chance to show what she can do in front of one of the key decision-makers in American women’s soccer.

“When you’re monitoring players on a regular basis, we’re looking at things that relate to the very things we’re looking to develop within our game model,” Hayes said, not specifically talking about Dudley. “When you come and you see things firsthand, you see the behaviors of players in terms of not just their preparation, but what it looks like when it’s going well, when it’s not going well, or when they’re involved, or when they’re not involved.”

Saturday’s match ended Gotham’s three-game winning streak that had run from the end of April to the beginning of May.

Shaw scored Gotham’s only goal of the evening in the 37th minute when she cleaned up a rebound in front of the net with Murphy caught out of position after making the initial save.

Alba Caño evened the score at 1 when she found the back of the net in the 40th minute.