(East Los Angeles, CA) [From The Editor’s Desk]: The day’s weather outlook in our City of the Angels, was a perfect and cloudless, Spring-time, sunny 74° for this National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) match-up in Week #8.

The 4:30 pm “kick-off” time automatically, and uniquely signaled that the first half of the match would be played in both the bright L.A. sun and the shade that was caused by the setting sun. 

[ANGEL CITY STARTING XI]: GK/#13/Haračić; D/#3/Spencer; D/#6/Reid; D/#11/Gorden; D/#27/Curry; M/#29/Le Bihan; M/#7/Rodríguez; M/#28/Nabet; F/#2/Leroux; F/#21/A. Thompson; and F/#10/Emslie.

[PRE-MATCH]: The Houston Dash arrived in Los Angeles to face the Birdies with a very disappointing record of (1-4-3=6 points) and last place in the week’s NWSL standings.

Angel City on the other hand, under the steady guidance of Head Coach, Becki Tweed, returned home to BMO Stadium with an improving (3-3-1=10 points), good enough for a 9th place tie with its Southern California rival, the San Diego Wave, in the overall NWSL Poll.

[MATCH SUMMARY]

[REFEREE]: Thomas Snyder

[1st HALF]: From the opening whistle by Referee Thomas Snyder, the initial match rhythm was played up-tempo by ACFC as it looked to quickly spread the field in hopes of leading its trio of forwards, #21/Alyssa Thompson, (wearing a pair of lime/green colored cleats), #10/Claire Emslie, and #2/Sydney Leroux, towards the Dash’s netting for early attack shots-on-goal.

That nearly happened when Thompson was given a good lead pass and then dribbled “1-0n-1” against her defender, almost got past her, but could not find enough space to direct a clean shot on goal. This came at minute (6:00).

Two minutes later, Thompson found herself once more in midfield for yet another shot after taking possession of a rebound off a missed shot, but she drove it too far to the goalie’s left and off-target. After that try, ACFC Midfielder/#29/Clarisse Le Bihan was injured in front of the goal, and time was taken to bring the ACFC medical unit onto the pitch to check on her. She remained in the match.

Then she was awarded a “free kick” from the right side of the 18-yard box for a shot. On her shot, a low diving “header” was attempted on goal at the (12:00) minute mark, but that went far to the right and out-of-play. More offensive attacks kept coming over the next few minutes of play, but without capitalizing on a score.

At minute (32:00), the crowd was buzzed and excited simultaneously, when ACFC had another chance for a shot on goal by Thompson, but she missed again from her customary left-side spot. An ACFC corner-kick resulted after another try by Thompson when she took a pass and went on the attack, but could not find enough space to leverage a strong attempt. It would then result in another corner kick at minute (35:00). Not much advantage by either team was evidenced for the final (10:00) minutes left to halftime, and the match ended in a scoreless tie.

[HALF-TIME SCORE]: Angel City  0   Houston Dash  0

[aigpl-gallery-slider id=”124666″][Photo Gallery]: Frankli Robles, East L. A. Sports Scene Productions

[2nd HALF]: The match continued on but with less intensity and a lack of apparent urgency for both squads. The crowd’s free-flowing inspiration for ACFC was apparent, but again without a positive scoring result to their credit. And so the match wore on in a scoreless tie.

Finally, at minute (65:00), Coach Tweed subbed in the energetic and veteran, Midfielder, #99/Madison Hammond, who joined the action in place of Midfielder, #28/Lily Nabet. The clear intent was to provide ACFC with a quicker and tighter defense, coupled with the chance of possibly collecting a loose ball and turning it upfield for a chance to score.

At minute (75:00), the Angel City reserves, Forward, #24/Messiah Bright and Defender, #12/Merritt Mathias, entered the match, hoping to engage in a “quick-strike” goal and then hold on for the win. But at minute (81:00), the Dash put a tremendous scare into the ACFC crowd, but it was then followed by a huge ACFC crowd roar due to a great “1-on-1” and big-time defensive play by goalkeeper, Haračić when she more than likely saved the match at that moment, with a fantastic shot-block.

Both teams managed to play their defensive best for the full (90:00) minutes, but with the lengthy (8:00) minutes of Stoppage time added by Referee Snyder, each team’s Head Coach had to reset their match-finishing plans.

Unfortunately for ACFC, they surrendered the winning goal with just seconds left on the clock, when on a Dash corner kick, their cluster of players drifted away from, and to the front of the 18-yard box. On the curved ball that came their way, Dash Defender, #7/Paige Nielson, the ex-Angel City player, took possession of the loose ball, relied on a trustworthy aim, drove it solidly into the netting to score, simultaneously ending the match, at (1-0)), leaving the Angel City players and the 18,000+ crowd in stunned silence. This marked the Dash’s first victory of the season.

[FULL-TIME SCORE @90′]: Angel City  0  Houston Dash  0

[OVER-TIME  SCORE @90’+8′]: Houston  1  Angel City  0             [ATTENDANCE]: 18,037

[OF SIGNIFICANCE]: The strengthening of the defense in the last third phase of the match has been an “Achilles heel” ailment that has resulted in several unwanted losses, which have carried over into this season. It must be remedied as soon as possible to keep this from losing and/or equalizing closely-contested future matches such as this one. At the minimum for this match, there should have been at least (1) point earned for the team’s effort of holding the match to a draw.

[NEXT UP]: Washington Spirit. This is a road match scheduled for Saturday, 5/18. The match will start at 4:30 pm and will air on the ION Channel.