(East Los Angeles, CA) [From The Editor’s Desk]: Once again the all-blue skies and the warm sun dominated the Los Angeles downtown skyline and its basin, providing perfect soccer weather for the NWSL’s Week 5, Angel City match-up against the North Carolina Courage. The daytime afternoon temperature at the 4:30 pm “kick-off” time was a sunny 70°, good enough for a polo, warm-up top, a team jersey, or T-shirt-wearing apparel. The match was televised on Cable TV via CBS/SN, Bally Sports SoCal, and broadcast on Radio at iHeart.

In addition, there were the customary pre-match outdoor activities surrounding BMO Stadium as the expected “sell-out” crowd took time to enjoy the entire Spring day afternoon before heading into their seats.

[PRE-MATCH]: The Courage came into this match with an NWSL record of (3-1-0 = 9 points), while ACFC showed a (1-2-1 = 4 points) record.

[aigpl-gallery-slider id=”123622″] [Photo Gaallery]: Frankli Robles For East L.A. Sports Scene 

[MATCH SUMMARY]

[REFEREE]: Alexis Da Silva

[1st HALF]: The first (5:00) minutes was a back-and-forth jostle for the teams’ early action “feeling out” purposes. Then at minute (8:00), ACFC developed an attack on the Courage via a corner kick, but there was no continuity as the visitors made very good and clean clearances of their attempt.

Subsequently, on another, and more structured attack, ACFC returned to offense in quick attack form with Forward, #21/Alyssa Thompson, in control of the sphere and heading towards taking her shot, only to be roughly tripped up from behind by the Courage’s Forward, #3/Kaleigh Kurtz, who was issued a “Yellow” card by Referee Alexis Da Silva, just outside of the 18-yard box in the semi-circled area. It was good enough for a “Free Kick,” directly facing the goal.

Then after Head Coach Becki Tweed, made her selection for her designated player to take the shot, up stepped Forward, #11/Claire Emslie, and with her patented left-to-right and left-footed curving kick, she sure enough found the far back corner of the netting for the first goal of the match at the (23:00) minute mark. The BMO scoreboard now read, Angel City  1   No. Carolina Courage  0.

After the score, the Cougars kept possession on their half of the pitch by sticking with their deliberate offense, rarely losing possession of the ball until the 40th minute when ACFC booted the ball well into its attacking zone with no players in the vicinity. The period ended with no further scoring action.

[HALF-TIME SCORE]: Angel City 1  North Carolina Courage  0

[2nd HALF]: It was a sluggish start for the period, but just as the fans were returning to their seats and getting comfortable, at the 54th minute, it was ACFC’s Claire Emslie who lighted up the crowd when she took a long open field pass forward, and she had only one defender to beat. She did that and then strongly lobbed a great looping kick over the goalkeeper, #1/Casey Murphy’s outstretched arms, and it rolled silently, but impactfully into the goal for the second ACFC score of the match. ACFC now led by a (2-0) margin.

To counter the Angel City attacks, the Courage nearly scored their first goal of the match at the (55:00) minute mark, but unfortunately,  there was an “off-side” call that went against them, thus nullifying the goal.

At this juncture of the match, both squads made substitutions to bring in fresh legs and stamina to wind up the match as the sun went down on the city and BMO Stadium as the temperature began to drop to the low 60s.

But the Courage stayed in “battle-ready” formation, when at minute (73:00), Forward, #14/Tyler Lussi, (a former Angel City player) scored on her rebounded shot into the netting just to the right of ACFC’s excellent goalkeeper. #13/DiDi Haračić.

Even down to the 83rd and 86th minutes, the Courage were trying their best to equalize the match when Heraćić had to make another couple of saves from shots taken from close to the goal.

Referee Da Silva ordered the Stoppage Time to be allotted was a hefty (10:00) minutes, more than enough time for both teams to add scores that could have changed the outcome of the match dramatically. In the final minute of stoppage, fans held their breath as the Courage kept on coming back at ACFC in sharp attack mode.

The final effort by North Carolina was a valiant one as they penetrated the inner 18-yard box area but their shot was cleared by Defender, #11/Sarah Gorden, as the fans erupted into a final uproar that ended the match with the final score showing Angel City 2,  the North Carolina Courage  1.

[FULL-TIME SCORE]: Angel City  2   No. Carolina  1    [ATTENDANCE]: 22,000 +  “Sold Out” – Match #2

[OF SIGNIFICANCE]: The defensive match plan that Head Coach Becki Tweed implemented was the key to the Angel City victory in this clash. Her substitution pattern was also a key to the win. [Player of the Match]: Forward, #10/Claire Emslie for her “brace” achievement of scoring two goals.

[NEXT UP]: The second NWSL Top team in the current standings, the Kansas City Current, comes into town on Friday, April 26th, with Kick-off set for 7:00 pm at BMO Stadium. The match is presented by NYX and can be viewed on Prime Video Broadcast, and heard on the Radio Broadcasts of  iHeart and 980 AM, La Mera, Mera