(East Los Angeles, CA) [From The Editor’s Desk]: The extended June break for the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) gave Angel City time to regroup. They returned with a strong team effort, securing a much-needed victory and earning 3 valuable points to add to their record. The match was held on Friday, July 3rd, during our 4th of July weekend celebrations, beginning at 7:00 pm.
This much-anticipated win moved their record to (5W-6L-1T), good for 16 points and a slight move up in the standings. And, during the long break, the team made several significant moves: they parted ways with Head Coach Alex Straus, who had been in his position until the pause. Shortly after this change, within days, the Club gained NWSL attention with its big-time trade for Ally Sentnor, an experienced player from the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) and, until most recently, a former Kansas City Current member.
[PRE-MATCH NOTES]: The Pride arrived in town with a very solid record of (5W-5L-2D =17 points) and an 8th place in the current standings as of this match.
On the other hand, Angel City was in 12th place with a (4W-6L-1D = 13 points) overall record. They are now guided by Interim Head Coach Leif Gunnar Smerud and have the invaluable veteran services of excellent midfielder #17 Ally Sentnor.
[ANGEL CITY FC STARTING XI]: GK/#19 Angelina Anderson; M/#17 Ally Sentnor; D/#20 Gisele Thompson; D/#11 Sarah Gorden, (Captain); M/#12 Maira Nieheus; M/#16 Carina Legeyre; F/#18 Jun Endo; F/#32 Svendís Jónsdotter; D/#15 Evelyn Shores; D/#6 Emily Sams; and M/#8 Ary Borges.
[MATCH SUMMARY]
[REFEREE]: Mark Verso
[1st HALF]: The match started with both teams showing equal energy. However, the Pride’s defense responded strongly to many of Angel City’s offensive efforts. Meanwhile, Angel City pressed back with their own counter-attacks. After (20:00) minutes of play, the match continued to be fairly even, but at the 36th minute, ACFC found itself in a perfect scoring position when, from the left flank, a shot was taken but blocked by Orlando inside of the big penalty box. Then, the rebound found its way directly to #12 Maiara Niehous, who took her left-footed shot on a straight bee-line to the goal while in traffic, and fired a rocket past the Pride goalkeeper, #1 Anna Moorhouse, who made an all-out dive at the shot but came up short. The ball was already in the left-back corner of the netting for the match’s first goal and the first lead of the contest. There would be more back-and-forth for the remainder of the half, but no other goals were scored by either side, and the home team went into its locker room with a slim (1-0) lead.
[HALF-TIME SCORE]: Angel City 1 Orlando Pride 0
[2nd HALF]: More of the same defensive intensity was applied by ACFC to start the all-important period. Again, there was no unmistakable advantage shown by wither side, until at minute (55:00), when forward #32 Sveindís Jónsdóttir, dribbled on her far right-flank uncovered and then made her parallel move to the end line and then got herself clear for a shot on goal that she drove past the Pride goalkeeper, Moorhouse, for the team’s second goal of the match, giving Angel City a bit of extra insurance as well as a big boost of confidence to press forward and win the match outright. This, of course, earned the team another much-sought-after 3 points to add to their overall season’s record and a very positive start to the resumption of NWSL play.
[FULL-TIME SCORE]: Angel City 2 Orlando Pride 0 [ATTENDANCE]: 13,900
[OF SIGNIFICANCE]: The defensive play of Goalkeeper, #19 Angelina Anderson, who came away with a clean sheet due to multiple saves and outstanding blocks when they mattered the most.
[EDITOR’S NOTE/NWSL MATCH UPDATES]: On Saturday, July 11th, the team traveled south down the Santa Ana 5 Frwy. to San Diego and played their SoCal rival, the Wave, in Snapdragon Stadium in front of a very large crowd of 15,881. Angel City proved victorious in this encounter and earned a 2-0 win.
Next, they traveled to Chicago, the Windy City, on July 18th, to face the Stars and achieved their third consecutive shutout. Once again, they successfully handled an important away game, extending their winning streak to three and significantly improving their record since the break. They now rank 8th with a record of (7W-6L-1T = 22 points).
[NEXT UP]: July 26th, Sunday at 6:00 pm when Racing Louisville arrives for Angel City’s second home contest for the month of July. Louisville arrives with a very poor record (2W-10L-2T= 6 points) and in last place in the standings.
[HOW TO WATCH & LISTEN]: How to Watch: ESPN; How to Listen: i-Heart & KWKW 1330 Radio En Español; International Broadcast: NWSLsoccer. com
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