USWNT’s Lynn Williams breaks NWSL all-time record with 79th league goal in NJ/NY Gotham FC match

HARRISON, NJ– NJ/NY Gotham FC’s Lynn Williams broke the NWSL’s all-time goal scoring record on Sunday, scoring her 79th career goal in her team’s 2-1 victory over the Chicago Red Stars.

Williams scored her historic goal in the 57th minute with a close-range header following a pass from Esther Gonzalez, the opening goal of the match. It was her third goal of the season in seven games, leading her team in that category so far in 2024. The U.S. women’s national team forward surpassed the record set by Sam Kerr, who played in the league from 2013 to 2019. Williams matched Kerr’s. previous total earlier this month in Gotham’s 1-0 win at the Houston Dash.

“At such a moment, when the target was so open, I said to myself, ‘Concentrate on your form and don’t let your eyes get too wide,’ because I had the feeling that these are the targets that are most easily missed ,” Williams said of the performance after the game “I obviously missed another sitter, and that’s just because your eyes get too big. I missed my moment. At that point I just said, “Lynn, just concentrate. Put the ball in the goal’, and when that finally happened, I was just so ecstatic. I was excited that me and Esther scored a goal together and I was excited to be in that area with our fans and with my fiancée in the stands.”

The appreciation for Gonzalez’s assist and the atmosphere around her reflect Williams’ overall feeling of becoming the league’s all-time leading scorer. She began her post-match comments by thanking the community around her and continued to praise them whenever she could.

“At the end of the day, I think I owe it all to the people around me: all my teammates, all my family members,” the forward said. “Everyone who has allowed me and pushed me forward when things got tough. Sometimes we see all the glory and all the big moments, but there are a lot of tears behind the scenes and so hopefully I’m just going to enjoy this moment.”

Williams has been a prolific scorer since joining the Western New York Flash – now the North Carolina Courage following an ownership change and relocation – as a rookie in 2015. She made a name for herself in North Carolina, where she scored 42 goals in 81 league appearances, but continued her impressive goalscoring streak when she joined Gotham ahead of the 2023 NWSL season. She has scored eleven goals in thirty appearances for the club to date from New Jersey.

Although she played for the USWNT U23 team, Williams used the NWSL to really boost her profile and become a regular on the national team. The 30-year-old spent much of her early career in the bubble but was part of the team that won a bronze medal at the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics and the USWNT squad for the 2023 Women’s World Cup broke through.

She remains in strong focus ahead of July’s Olympic Games in Paris, which will mark the first major tournament for the USWNT after Emma Hayes takes over next month. Williams was part of the rebuilding squad under interim head coach Twila Kilgore and featured in the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup, scoring one goal in four matches.

“I think I’ve exceeded a lot of people’s expectations,” she said of the trajectory of her career so far. “I think I’ve believed in myself for a long time. At many points along the way I’ve been told, ‘No, you’re not good enough,’ and I think that every time I score a goal and every time I on the field, it is a new moment for me to continue to believe in myself and I think this is what I will take with me to move forward… It doesn’t matter what everyone thinks Ultimately it’s about how you think about yourself and how you surround yourself, push them and believe in you and know your dreams.”

Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amoros had a similar mentality after the win. Gotham signed Williams after she missed the entire 2022 season due to injury, but she hit the ground running and has become a very important part of the team.

“I think she exceeded our expectations,” he said. “You know what she can do on the pitch, but there are certain things you only know when you work with people… When I came in last year, of course it was a bit of a gamble, because in the end, after a year of not playing, you never know – muscle injuries, how would she react, and I think from the first official match she played [at] Angel City, she carries this team together with her teammates.”

Despite the festive feeling, Williams quickly focused on the future.

“Hopefully that’s not my last goal, so I’m not done yet,” she joked. “It’s just a moment in my career where I can reflect and then we’ll just move on.”