“We Are L.A. Strong!”

(East Los Angeles, CA) [From The Editor’s Desk]: The National Labor Day Holiday, celebrated on Monday, September 1st, completed the final day of the weekend’s national soccer scene and its accompanying schedule in the NWSL’s 18th Week. For Angel City FC, it was their second intra-state rivalry match of the season, and this time, the Northern California team, Bay Football Club (4W-8-L-5D = 17 points for 12th place in the standings), was in the targeting sights of Angel City.

It’s essential to note here that every match from now to the end of the season is critical, and a near “must-win” rally will be needed to qualify them for the playoffs. They came into this match with a record of (5W-7L-5D = 20 points for 10th place in the standings) and with some good momentum due to their huge victory over the League-leading Orlando Pride last month, (1-0), which took place on August 21st here at BMO Stadium.

[ANGEL CITY FC STARTING XI]: #13 Hannah Seabert, Goalkeeper; ##15 Evelyn Shores; #20 Gisele Thompson; #11 Sarah Gorden; #99 Madison Hammond; #17 Kennedy Fuller; #32 Sveindis Jane Jónsdóttir; #33 Riley Tiernan; #8 Macey Hodge; #6 Megan Reid; and #16 M.A. Vignola

[MATCH SUMMARY]

[REFEREE]: Matt Thompson

[1st HALF]: After controlling the ball for the first (8-10:00) minutes of play, Angel City finally saw their opponents move into their attacking zone, but just for under a couple of minutes. On the next ACFC possession, they got the ball to their forward, #33 Riley Tiernan, who performed a fantastic “1-on-1” manuever down the left side of the pitch, then veered her way in traffic onto the center of the 18-yard box, made a feint to her right, pivoted sharply, came back to her left, then with a solidly placed left-footer, fired it into the right corner of the netting just past the outstretched arms of the Bay FC’s goalkeeper, #1 Leah Freeman, for the first score of the match. It came at the (10:00) minute mark.

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[PHOTO GALLERY]: For: East L.A. Sports Scene Productions,/By: Frankli Robles, Lead Photographer

As both teams continued to find their rhythms by default, the medical team was summoned onto the pitch at the (20:00) minute mark to attend to ACFC’s goalkeeper, #13 Hannah Seabert, giving both squads a reasonable “pause for the cause.”  Subsequently, on two attacking tries by Bay FC, Seabert drew thunderous applause for two fantast saves.

Then finding themselves in a brief defensive slump, ACFC was unable to stop #21 Rachel Hill from scoring at point-blank range, even though Seabert arm-blocked her attempt directly in front of the goal. Still, the rebound went past Seabert, and it was available for Hill to easily tap it in for the equalizing score at the (37:00) minute mark.

Right after that score, ACFC’s forward, #32 Sventiss Jane Jonadottir, quickly countered with an ACFC threat on goal, but missed a golden opportunity to take the lead back when her shot barely missed the left side of the post from about 10 feet out. She had beaten the goalkeeper to the ball but couldn’t capitalize on the confrontation to earn a goal.

After an additional (5:00) minutes of extra stoppage time added to the announced (4:00) minutes, the first half ended in a (1-1) tied score.

[HALF-TIME SCORE]: Angel City  1  Bay FC  1

[2nd HALF]: Most of this period was played in the back-and-forth with an unrelenting up-tempo style of play, with limited scoring, and unlimited shots on goal, so it seemed. The shots on goal increased from the halftime recorded marks to nearly double in both teams’ attempts.

And then, at the (76:00) minute mark, Angel City, after failing to score on multiple tries, on a set-piece corner kick, the recently arrived,#12 Maiara Niehaus, leaped into the air from just above the 18-yard box and struck home a fantastic “header” for the go-ahead score, breaking the tie, (2-1). The crowd approval reverberated once again throughout BMO Stadium as they could begin to now sense the strong possibility of witnessing the second home victory in a row. The Angel City defense rallied up and well-defended its goal to preserve the victory and earn those most valuable 3-points to add to their overall record, as well as beginning a two-match winning streak. 

[FULL-TIME SCORE]: Angel City  2  Bay FC  1       [ATTENDANCE]: 14,971

[OF SIGNIFICANCE]: Alyssa Thompson did not suit up, pending her transfer to Chelsea FC in England. All subs played well to fill in wherever needed to secure the two-match winning streak. It was the first “back-to-back” win day of the team’s NWSL schedule since August 2023.

[ANGEL CITY’S PLAYER OF THE MATCH]: #33 Riley Tiernan

[NEXT UP]: Washington Spirit, September 18th, 7:30 pm kick-off @ BMO Stadium.