(East Los Angeles, CA) – The National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) member team, the Angel City Football Club (ACFC) was given the opportunity on Wednesday, 8/10/22, of playing a “Friendly” or “Partido Amistoso” (en Español) match, against the Tigres de La Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL), located in the eastern Mexican state of Nuevo León.
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This is an independent partnership effort to promote Women’s soccer between the ACFC, and Mexico’s UANL-Feminil for starters, and potentially for other women’s foreign soccer teams who are able to field competitive teams when invited to play or tour in the United States by a host team, just as it was arranged for in this particular match. ###
ANGEL CITY FOOTBALL CLUB DEFEATS TIGRES UANL FEMENIL IN FIRST-EVER INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY MATCH
LOS ANGELES, CA (August 10, 2022) – Angel City FC (ACFC) defeated Tigres UANL Femenil 1-0 in their first-ever international friendly match at Banc of California Stadium, following a second half game-winning goal by Angel City midfielder Savannah McCaskill.
The first 30 minutes of action between the two clubs was full of action as they were able to defend up and down the pitch, creating excellent opportunities offensively in return. The first strike came in the 33rd minute by Tigres’ Stefany Mayor, who launched a shot from long distance but was handled well by Angel City’s Goalkeeper Brittany Isenhour.
Angel City was unawarded a first half goal three minutes later after Stefany Ferrer Van Ginkel dribbled up the right side of the pitch gaining enough leverage to serve the perfect pass in the box to Hope Breslin who nailed the header into the back of the net, which was called offsides.
Five minutes later, Tigres defender Anika Rodriquez would test Isenhour with their first strike in the box that was also retrieved by the veteran goalie.
In the 75th minute, a bulk substitution by Head Coach Freya Coombe late in the match led to McCaskill’s game-winning diving goal in the 79th minute, which came off of a pass from Tyler Lussi from outside of the box.
Tigres came close to an equalizer in the 85th minute after Uchenna Kanú won the challenge in the box, immediately taking a strike that Isenhour was able to keep in front of her for the save.
Angel City will return to Banc of California Stadium on Sunday, August 14 for an NWSL match against the Chicago Red Stars. The match will be televised live on CBS Sports Network at 5:00 p.m. PST/8:00 p.m. EST.
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POST MATCH QUOTES
Angel City FC Head Coach Freya Coombe:
On the importance of these two teams coming together and playing this match:
“It’s really important. It puts a spotlight on the Mexican league for players and spectators that maybe aren’t watching. I think it gives a great opportunity for us to watch teams from that league.”
“The work that’s being done off of the field is very important for the growth of the game. Hopefully this is an opportunity for us to get some international club competition and more formal club competition on the women’s side. You have the Champions League in Europe and on the men’s side, for us now this is the next stage of how we’d like to see the game grow.”
On the approach of tonight’s game and game planning:
“Going into this game we knew we were going to have a lot of squad rotation and give a lot of opportunity to get players in who haven’t played or have played limited minutes. Credit to Britt [Isenhour], who hasn’t played a minute yet underneath DiDi, and came in, kept a clean sheet and did well.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to experiment with a change in formation and we did within the second half. A big thing for us was looking at load management after we returned from a very hot and humid trip to Orlando and the travel coming over from the East Coast and then in preparation for Chicago.”
On Allyson Swaby and Stefany Ferrer Van Ginkel’s performances tonight:
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“It was great for them to get minutes. I thought Allyson had a great ball out to Tyler that led to the goal with Tyler’s good delivery. Being able to break lines and open up. Allyson in particular was very comfortable with the Tigres frontline and didn’t look too troubled at any moment during the game, which was great to see.”
“Stefany was able to come in and play against some of her former teammates and show some class on the ball in possession, and it was great for her to get that opportunity.”
Tigres Head Coach Carmelina Moscato:
“I agree with Freya in the sense that in the absence of a true Champions League here in CONCACAF, these kinds of independent partnerships will take this game to another level for us. I think it’ll inspire other leagues to get moving. When you start to see the game growing and connecting in these ways, people want to be part of this. It’s unique.”
“These two clubs make a lot of sense with the communities that they’re servicing and that they’re working with. I love that Mexico is taking the next step and being a leader in this space with the NWSL.”
“With regards to the atmosphere, this club does a great job to entertain and people want to come back and experience this. It’s almost a belonging and it’s special. The atmospheres are comparable in that way. I think we’ll do a great job as well when we host Angel City next year. The players really enjoyed it as well, which is the most important part.”
ACFC Stefany Ferrer Van Ginkel:
On playing against her former team:
“It felt really good. It just felt like a practice. I’ve been with them before, and when you’re on the field you don’t think about who you’re playing against. The best part about playing against them is hugging them and just catching up with them after the game.”
On the future of women’s soccer:
“I think it’s really important to do things like this. Women’s soccer is really new, and there are still a lot of firsts. I was the first international player to play for Tigres. And now it’s the first time the club has done something like this.”
“Maybe other teams in the NWSL now are going to follow and do the same thing, or maybe it’ll become even bigger and we’ll become a league like a copa. I think it’s huge for women’s soccer, to always be growing and doing new things like this.”
ABOUT ANGEL CITY FOOTBALL CLUB
Angel City Football Club (ACFC), the 11th member of the National Women’s Soccer League, is currently in its inaugural season at Banc of California Stadium in downtown Los Angeles. The team is founded by Academy Award-winning actress and activist Natalie Portman, technology venture capitalist Kara Nortman, media and gaming entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, and venture capitalist, 776 founder and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Freya Coombe leads the team as the first-ever head coach and US Women’s National Team star Christen Press was the team’s first playing signing.
Learn more about ACFC at www.angelcity.com and follow the team on social media @weareangelcity. Season tickets for the 2022 season are sold out. For those interested in attending games during the 2022 inaugural season or getting on the 2023 season ticket waitlist, please visit https://angelcity.com/tickets.
