Club América forward Scarlett Camberos scored a hat trick on Wednesday to help her team defeat Gotham FC 4-1 in the semifinals of the Concacaf W Champions Cup.
Gotham also lost starting goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger to injury after she was stretchered off the field and taken to a hospital.
América, which won Mexico's Liga MX Femenil Clausura title on Sunday, will face Washington Spirit in the search for its first international title on Saturday and a berth in next year's FIFA Women's Champions Cup. The NWSL side beat Pachuca 1-0 in the second semifinal, with Claudia Martinez scoring late to avoid an all-Liga MX final.
Camberos opened the scoring for América in the 21st minute before striking again in the 57th minute. The San Diego-born Mexico international completed the hat trick from the penalty spot near full-time.
"We are at a moment of very, very heightened emotions, of very powerful thoughts regarding what we can and want to achieve," Club América coach Ángel Villacampa said.
Gotham's woes could carry on beyond Wednesday. Berger was stretchered off the field after she came out to challenge Camberos on the final play of the first half. Gotham had a free kick on the other end of the field and committed numbers forward for an equalizer but got countered after losing possession.
Berger came off her line to prevent América from doubling its lead. She received several minutes of medical attention before being taken off the field on a spine board stretcher.
On Thursday, the club said Berger had suffered an abdomen injury in the collision and was under evaluation and receiving care from medical professionals and team physicians in Mexico.
Berger helped lead Gotham to last year's NWSL Championship victory in November and the inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup title last spring.
Gotham FC coach Juan Carlos Amoros said after the match that Berger had been taken to the hospital, but he didn't have more information to share. He also lamented the lack of video review in the competition.
"At the moment, we don't know anything," he said. "I think there is also a bit of a level of frustration of playing in a competition like this with the fantastic job that everybody is doing, we definitely need VAR in a competition like this.
"I think there were certain situations in the game that should have been avoided... maybe if Ann had been protected in that first action, maybe the second action wouldn't have happened. I think that's probably the frustration that we have as a group of players and staff."
Goalkeeper Shelby Hogan replaced Berger in goal for Gotham to start the second half.
Brazilian forward Geyse assisted the first three goals for América against her former team. She played for Gotham on loan in 2025 and scored for the team in last year's Concacaf semifinal to help defeat América.
Spanish forward Esther González scored an equalizer for Gotham three minutes into the second half.
Gotham's defense, however, was exposed several times in transition. Camberos reestablished the lead nine minutes after Esther's equalizer, and Aylin Avilez added a third goal in the 70th minute.
"I think the first half, we really struggled to adapt; they were better," Amoros said. "I think the second half, we started really well with obviously that goal to equalize, but then they obviously had those situations on the counters that they killed us."
The winner of that game will advance to the 2027 FIFA Women's Champions Cup and qualify for the inaugural FIFA Women's Club World Cup in 2028.
Gotham already qualified for the 2028 event by winning last year's Concacaf title.
Villacampa praised his players for their effort on short rest after clinching the league title three days earlier.
"Football is, fundamentally, a state of mind," he said. "That is where I believe we dug deep and made that extra effort. And, honestly, achieving today's result was by no means easy. For that reason, I offer my congratulations, and I want to reiterate once again just how proud I feel of these players."
ESPN's Cesar Hernandez contributed to this report.
