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NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Displays Impressive Comeback Efforts in Loss to Kansas City

March 30, 2024 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


KANSAS CITY - Angel City fell 2-4 today on the road against the Kansas City Current. Midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo, midfielder Alexa Spaanstra, forward Temwa Chawinga, and forward Bia Zaneratto scored for the Current, while Sydney Leroux and Madison Curry found the back of the net for Angel City.

The home team opened the scoring in the seventh minute when forward Bia Zaneratto forced a turnover on the left wing and found Chawinga with a square pass into the box. Chawinga held up the ball before tapping it to an onrushing DiBernardo, who sent it inside the far post to put her team up 1-0.

Most of the remainder of the half was fairly uneventful, with neither team finding much success moving the ball into the final third. Angel City defender Paige Nielsen came up with a big stop in the 27th minute when Bia beat her mark and sent in a ball from the left that defender Ellie Wheeler headed on frame; Nielsen headed the shot off the goal line to keep it out of the net.

In first-half stoppage time, DiBernardo sent a cross in behind the back line that forward Alexa Spaanstra sprinted onto and headed into the back of the net from point-blank range. The play was initially flagged offside, but following a review, center official Danielle Chesky overruled the call on the field and allowed the goal to stand.

Angel City pulled one back in the 50th minute when forward Claire Emslie sent an early cross from the left to the edge of the six-yard box, which forward Sydney Leroux cleanly headed past goalkeeper AD Franch and into the back of the net.

It wasn't long, though, before the Current added to their lead; in the 51st minute, KC forward Claire Lavogez sent a sideways pass to Bia in the center of the pitch, who broke through pressure to send the ball onward to Chawinga on the right. The Malawian sprinted a few steps into the 18, drawing ACFC keeper Angelina Anderson off her line, and sent her shot into the net.

The visitors narrowed the lead again in the 78th minute when a corner kick by Emslie fell to midfielder Rocky Rodríguez. She headed the ball down to defender Ali Riley at the top of the six, who then tapped it a few feet to rookie defender Madison Curry, who sent an emphatic shot past Franch. The goal was Curry's first as a professional, and came in her first start for Angel City.

Rodríguez put the ball in the back of the net a few minutes later off another corner kick, but her goal was overturned by VAR after Chesky ruled that midfielder Kennedy Fuller had been in an offside position.

The Current scored their fourth and final goal in second-half stoppage time when Bia pounced on a mis-cleared ball inside the 18 and put it away with an outside-of-the-foot shot.

The NWSL takes a break next weekend for a FIFA window; Angel City will play next on Saturday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m. Pacific, on the road against Chicago.

ACFC MILESTONES

Rookie defender Madi Curry made her first career start. She is now the lowest draft pick to start an NWSL match. (She was the 51st overall pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft. This was the first year the NWSL had more than 50 draft picks)

Sydney Leroux's goal is the 42nd of her NWSL regular season career. She's now tied with Jess Fishlock for 11th on the all-time scoring list.

Defender Sarah Gorden now has 98 career NWSL regular season match appearances.

Rookie defender Madi Curry scored her first career NWSL goal in the 78' minute. She is the 6th Rookie to score her first professional goal this season.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Defender and Vice-Captain Sarah Gorden

On the match overall:

"We knew that they were going to play direct and that they are strong transitionally. We played into that and gave the ball away. We were big and we allowed them to transition on us and play between us on the first two goals. We were disappointed by that because our game plan was to stop their offensive transition and to be strong in possession. Us giving it to them and then allowing them to play through us quickly accounted for a lot of it."

"They have a really powerful front line and we wanted to keep the ball, find pockets, and break them down. We came out flat, and we didn't do that."

"It's nothing to be worried about. It's a long season, but it's disappointing."

On KC Current Forward Temwa Chawinga

"She's strong, fast, technical, and smart. She's kind of got it all. We knew it was going to be a challenge. We knew that containing her was going to be difficult, and that's another reason why we wanted to stop their attack in transition. Her in space is very difficult to defend. Kudos to her, she had a great game."

On Madi Curry's performance:

"I would just like to say props to Madi for her first start. She came into a really difficult environment and found out less than an hour before the game that she was starting. She acts like she's been here before in the way she is so composed on the field, so kudos to her. It was a really tough game and I really think she showed up today."

ACFC Rookie Defender Madi Curry

On earning her first NWSL start:

"I first learned in the locker room when we got to the facility. All of my teammates helped me learn my role very quickly to get me prepared, hype me up and really get me ready for the moment."

On scoring her first professional goal:

"It was just part of the game plan. In the moment, it was a little bit scary like 'Just don't miss this,' but Ali [Riley] did a great job of doing her part and it was up to me to get the ball in the back of the net. At the end of the day, it's about our will and our 'One goal at a time' mentality, and I just did what I could."

On the team's mindset moving forward:

"We have to take what we have. We have everything that we need in the team, but we can't break down the way that we have. It's nothing to be worried about, but it's something to grow from. We have a lot more left to give and a lot more left to see, so we just need to clean it up."

ACFC Head Coach Becki Tweed

On scoring two goals from set pieces:

"It's an area that we heavily worked on this week. Kansas City has conceded in every game from set pieces. We knew we could take advantage of them in those spaces. We did and it could have been three. We created problems when we put the ball in the box and we made it chaotic."

"They wanted to make the game chaotic the other way and we didn't want that to happen. We wanted to be better in possession, keep the ball, and not make this game transitional. We also know we could hurt them in their 18-yard box, and that's what we did."

On Madi Curry's overall performance in today's match:

"When you sign players, their expectation is that they have to be ready for any moment and you never know when your opportunity is going to come. We talk about it every week."

"Everybody has to prepare as if they're going to play and be selected. The opportunity came up for Madi and she embraced it, grabbed it with two hands."

On the challenges they faced against Kansas City:

"We talked about it a lot in our pregame. They live in transition moments. If you look at all of the goals they've scored over the course of these three games, they play forwards very quickly. They have players that can stretch the line and get at you and they ultimately punish you in those moments."

"I said it last week and I'll say it again this week, what we have to fix is between us and our group. We know that we made mistakes today that cost us opportunities and chances. At one point, the game is 3-3 with a VAR decision that I don't know if it was right or wrong, but you can't let those moments demoralize you."

"The game of football is cruel. You go from 3-3 to 4-2 within a matter of one minute, it's tough. We're three games in, and we haven't been outplayed in any of the three games. We have a lot of things that we can fix internally as a group and we have some time to regroup and do just that."

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National Women's Soccer League Stories from March 30, 2024


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