{"id":298399,"date":"2026-07-17T03:57:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T03:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/298399\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T03:57:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T03:57:21","slug":"wildfire-smoke-hydration-breaks-hang-over-gotham-fcs-queens-classic-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/298399\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildfire Smoke, Hydration Breaks Hang Over Gotham FC\u2019s Queens Classic Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wildfire smoke and stifling heat turned Gotham FC\u2019s historic Queens Classic win into a stop-start affair<\/a> Wednesday night, as the reigning NWSL champions edged the Washington Spirit 1-0 before a record crowd at Citi Field.<\/p>\n

Rose Lavelle settled the match with a curling chip in the 37th minute. But her strike was slightly overshadowed by the orange haze hovering over Flushing\u2019s night sky. A sellout crowd of 42,175 \u2014 a New York City women\u2019s sports record<\/a> \u2014 packed the MLB stadium for the event, watching through the smog as mandated hydration breaks repeatedly broke up the game.<\/p>\n

\"Washington\u201cIf we have to have a hydration break every 15 minutes, then we shouldn\u2019t be playing the game. That\u2019s my opinion,\u201d said Washington Spirit star Trinity Rodman. (Brad Penner\/Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Wildfire Smoke Filled New York Skies Ahead of Gotham FC Clash<\/p>\n

The league monitored conditions all day before the 8 PM ET kickoff. Smoke from hundreds of wildfires across Canada and Minnesota had settled over the Northeast, prompting New York to issue a statewide air quality advisory. As if that wasn\u2019t enough, near-100-degree temperatures added an extreme heat warning<\/a> to the mix.<\/p>\n

According to NWSL policy<\/a>, an air quality index between 150 and 180 mandates two breaks per half, while anything above 180 triggers delays or cancellation. The AQI read 171 at kickoff, allowing the match to kick off but forcing players off the pitch for two hydration breaks per half. During one stoppage, Spirit star Trinity Rodman was spotted using an oxygen mask on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

\u201cAir quality was rough,\u201d a frustrated Rodman said afterward. \u201cNot to make excuses at all, but I think on both sides we were all like, \u2018another break, another break, another break.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have to have a hydration break every 15 minutes, then we shouldn\u2019t be playing the game. That\u2019s my opinion,\u201d she continued. \u201cBut at the end of the day, there\u2019s 40,000 people<\/a>. It\u2019s a whole event. So it was a hard situation for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

The interruptions put both benches on edge. Washington head coach Adri\u00e1n Gonz\u00e1lez didn\u2019t mince words postmatch. He called the breaks a momentum-killer even as he acknowledged their necessity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I be honest? I don\u2019t like them,\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez said. \u201cI think it kills the game. But I understand it, so I need to accept it.\u201d He added that solving problems on the fly is \u201cpart of the beauty,\u201d and providing mid-match feedback<\/a> interrupted that rhythm.<\/p>\n

\"AGotham FC pulled off a 1-0 win over Washington despite concerning air quality conditions at MLB’s Citi Field. (Brenden Willsch\/Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Players Debate NWSL Hydration Break Pros and Cons<\/p>\n

Spirit midfielder Andi Sullivan took the conditions in stride. She suggested the extra water breaks may have actually helped her hold up physically across her longest outing since returning from maternity leave<\/a>. However, she suggested incorporating a single break earlier on might be more effective for maintaining flow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t mind it too much,\u201d said the NWSL veteran. \u201cI would be curious to do one water break at 20 minutes instead of waiting until 30. That would be a good compromise, so that the game doesn\u2019t become too chopped up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Washington defender Tara Rudd<\/a> suspected the hype surrounding the Queens Classic influenced the decision to play despite air quality concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if it were different circumstances, maybe the game would have been pushed,\u201d she told reporters. \u201cBut because there\u2019s so many people here\u2026 It\u2019s not an excuse, but the water breaks [were] disrupting the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The debate mirrors a broader one at the Men\u2019s World Cup, where warm summer weather ushered in the tournament\u2019s first-ever hydration breaks. Sunday\u2019s final between Spain and Argentina is slated to be played at MetLife Stadium, about 22 miles from Citi Field. However, forecasters expect the air quality to improve<\/a> by the end of the week.<\/p>\n

\u201cTimes are changing, and we need to adjust, and we need to accept it,\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wildfire smoke and stifling heat turned Gotham FC\u2019s historic Queens Classic win into a stop-start affair Wednesday night,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[90798,113520,19202,9,24,63,113521,122,124,123,112609,68321],"class_list":["post-298399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-2026-nwsl-season","tag-adrian-gonzalez","tag-gotham-fc","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-player-safety","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-trinity-rodman","tag-washington-spirit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}