A lot can change in a year.
Jaedyn Shaw came to Gotham FC last September in dire need of a fresh start.
Now, 372 days later, Shaw is thriving as one of the central pieces of the NWSL-leading Gotham attack.
Shaw has seven goals and five assists, leading the club in both categories. In her most recent game, she recorded a goal and an assist to propel Gotham to a 2-1 win against Racing Louisville.
The timing was fitting.
Shaw’s big performance came on the one-year anniversary of her joining Gotham.
“Last year… honestly, it went pretty fast,” Shaw told The Post. “I feel like there’s been a lot of growth (and) more highs than 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.
She carried some questions and uncertainty.
Shaw had been widely viewed as a soccer prodigy. After committing to the University of North Carolina at only 14, Shaw ultimately bypassed college and turned professional at 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.
But things in North Carolina weren’t clicking for Shaw.
She recorded just three goals and an assist in 19 matches. She felt lost as she struggled to live up to the hype since joining the Courage.
Her confidence tanked. She fell out of the U.S. Women’s National Team’s rotation.
Gotham provided her with the new opportunity she desperately craved and she has been ascending ever since.
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. “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.”
Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amorós is one of Shaw’s biggest supporters.
Gotham plays a fast-paced, fluid style. There’s some structure, of course, but also a lot of freedom for players to be creative.
Amorós said it was a “no-brainer” to add Shaw into Gotham’s 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. “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.”
In turn, it’s making the team better.
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.
On Saturday, Shaw will return to her old stomping grounds to play the Courage.
She admitted, “It is a little weird coming back,” and facing her former team. But so much has changed since she last suited up for the Courage.
“It’s going to be a tough game,” Shaw said. “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. For me, I got to make sure I’m doing my 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.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
