Angel City Football Club Draws 1-1 Against the Portland Thorns in First Road Match of the 2025 Season

Sports stats



NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Draws 1-1 Against the Portland Thorns in First Road Match of the 2025 Season

March 21, 2025 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


PORTLAND - Angel City Football Club (ACFC) earned a 1-1 draw against the Portland Thorns tonight in their first road match of 2025. Midfielder Kennedy Fuller scored for ACFC, with forward Reilyn Turner notching the equalizer for Portland.

Angel City opened the scoring in the ninth minute when defender Sarah Gorden played a line-breaking pass to midfielder Alanna Kennedy, who then found defender Gisele Thompson on the right wing. Thompson took the ball to the right edge of the 18 and sent a diagonal pass to forward Kennedy Fuller, who had her back to goal at the top of the area. The 18-year-old took a few touches to turn her defender and unleashed an angled shot that landed in the far corner of the net.

It didn't take long for the visitors to get another look, as in the 13th minute, defender Savy King tapped a sideways ball to forward Alyssa Thompson as she made a run into the box. Thompson did a one-two pass with Emslie to lose her mark, then put a shot in the center of the goal- but goalkeeper McKenzie Arnold stopped it.

The Thorns had a flurry of chances a few minutes later, first an 18th-minute effort by midfielder Olivia Moultrie that goalkeeper Angelina Anderson saved, then a low driven shot by midfielder Deyna Catstellanos, which Anderson blocked out for a corner in the 19th minute. One minute after that, forward Reilyn Turner forced Anderson into a turnover in the box and tapped the ball to Moultrie, who sent a shot wide of the far post.

Portland kept pushing for goal, equalizing in the 30th minute. Following another save by Anderson against Turner, Moultrie whipped a corner kick into the six-yard box, and the ball bounced through the knot of defenders. Turner was lurking in the far corner and redirected it into the net with the outside of her right foot.

ACFC had a good chance in the 50th minute when forward Claire Emslie switched the ball across the field to defender MA Vignola, who drove up the left and found forward Riley Tiernan. Tiernan dropped the ball back to Kennedy, who took a crack from 18 yards, but Arnold dove and blocked it out for a corner.

A round of substitutions in the 80th minute breathed new life into the Portland attack, first in the 83rd minute with defender Mallie McKenzie sending a cross in toward the penalty spot, where forward Pietra Tordin was making a run- but the ball bounced harmlessly off her leg and over the endline.

One minute after that, Anderson was forced to make an impressive save. A corner kick landed in a knot of players near the goal before bouncing out to midfielder Hina Sugita. She put a hard driven shot on frame, but Anderson jumped to tip it over the bar.

Angel City's final chance came in the 89th minute on a transition play that saw her beat defender Isabella Obaze one-on-one in the box, but Arnold saved her effort at the near post.

Finally, in the 93rd minute, Anderson went to ground to stop a low shot by forward Alexa Spaanstra, keeping the score level in the final play of the game.

Angel City is back at home at BMO Stadium next Sunday, March 30 against Seattle Reign FC at 5:00 p.m. PT.

ACFC Player Milestones:

Defender Sarah Gorden reached 10,000 career NWSL Regular Season minutes played in the 79' of the match.

Midfielder Kennedy Fuller scored her second career NWSL Regular Season goal in the 9' of the match.

Defender Gisele Thompson earned her second career NWSL Regular Season assist in the 9' of the match.

ACFC had the youngest Starting XI in NWSL History for the second straight week.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Goalkeeper and Vice-Captain, Angelina Anderson

Overall thoughts on tonight's match:

"It was a little chaotic at times. Definitely some things we have to clean up, but I also thought there were moments of really nice creativity up top which is something that's really promising going forward.

"Ultimately this is a hard place to play. I didn't realize that this was my first time playing in Portland. It's a hard place to play and they always put up a good fight. We knew it was going to be kind of chaotic, a little chippy at times with coming down rain. I'm proud we stuck it out and got a point on the road. That's never easy."

On her growth over the last season:

"Starting the year off and then riding the bench the rest of the year is easy to take as a really negative thing. Last year was absolutely pivotal for my growth as a pro. I learned how to be a pro when things aren't going your way, and that's looking forward. That might be one of the most valuable years that I will have in my career.

"It all kind of bleeds together. I don't know if I was ready last year. I feel ready this year and I'll keep harping on the fact that there is always room to improve. I felt proud of my performance tonight of keeping us in the game, with some big saves. It's showing and I'm just hoping to keep gaining confidence game in, game out."

On the last 20 minutes being chaotic in tonight's match:

"It was chaos. NWSL After Dark is back, baby. That's the nature and the fun of this league too, is they're gonna have games like that. Like I alluded to earlier, it's a hard place to play. You saw at the end, both teams wanted to win.

"That's where I'm most proud of us, is when things get hard and we're pushing on and there's mistakes and chaos, we're able to stay relatively level headed and get a point, so I'm happy with it."

ACFC Midfielder, Kennedy Fuller

On her goal tonight in the ninth minute of the match:

"We had a couple good chances in the first half. We had been circulating the ball really well and we've been switching the ball, which is something that we've been working on.

"What I said on the media call yesterday is the creativity we have up top. Alyssa [Thompson], Giselle [Thompson], Claire [Emslie], Riley [Tiernan] are sick. Everyone is really working on creativity and for me to be able to just finish it off, everyone did the work for me. All I had to do was shoot it."

On the growth and progress of the team with her new teammates:

"Riley's obviously new, and we had behind us, Macey [Hodge] and Alanna [Kennedy], who are also new to the team. It's naturally going to take some time and we're going to have growing pains through it.

"Tonight we showed little sparks of how we're going to play the rest of the season. To be able to see that in the second game of the season is super exciting and promising for us."

ACFC Interim Head Coach Sam Laity

Thoughts on the match:

"I thought it was an extremely exciting game. I thought we started very well and had really good control in the first 20 minutes or so. Then we lost a little bit of that control and allowed Portland to get back into the game. Conceded a sloppy goal. I think up until that point we were in the ascendancy.

Just a couple little things. First and second balls became an issue and we lost a bit of momentum and that led to their goal.Really good start. Good structure, good organization, and we played some nice football."

On Angelina Anderson's growth and performance tonight:

"She was fantastic. That is why the club has so much faith in her to be the number one. She has all the attributes to be one of the top goalkeepers in the world. I would rather not have her have to put in a performance like that, but she was outstanding.

"That will give her a world of confidence and it will give the team a world of confidence as well. Nobody should be ashamed to have a world class goalkeeper. To be one of the best teams in the world, you have to have top players in every position, and that is certainly one of them.

"It is building blocks. She is adding a layer every couple of weeks and you can see that. She made a massive jump tonight. Part of development and experience is having games like that. I am sure she will keep growing from here."

On Kennedy Fuller's goal:

"She spun on her left foot last week when she put Alyssa [Thompson] in. She assisted last week and scored this week. She can be a really dangerous and productive player between the lines. That is one of the things we have been talking about - production. If you are going to be playing as an attacking midfield player, it is about the end product. That is creating scoring. The last two games, she has been fantastic."

On the atmosphere in Providence Park:

"This is a tough place to come. The atmosphere here is difficult. I thought we quieted the crowd the first 20 minutes or so. If you can quiet the crowd here in Portland, it is going to help you in the game. I thought we did that for long periods of time. When the crowd is up, it is almost like they are sucking the ball into the back of the net themselves.

"I thought we did a brilliant job in the start of the first half and second half and getting a point is fantastic. If you had asked me at halftime, I would have been disappointed to not take three. In the end, one point is probably fair. I thought it was a really entertaining game. Very mutual."

His message to the team after the match:

"Well done. It is a big point. The start was really impressive. Let's build on that and that will be next week against Seattle at home."

Box Score - March 21, 2025 (Providence Park)

Goals:

LA - Fuller 9' (A: G. Thompson)

POR - Turner 30'

Shots Saves Fouls Offsides Corners

POR 21 4 7 3 5

LA 10 8 12 4 4

LA Starting XI: Anderson, Angelina, Gorden, Sarah, King, Savy, Vignola, M.A., Thompson, Gisele, Kennedy, Alanna, Fuller, Kennedy, Hodge, Macey, Emslie, Claire, Thompson, Alyssa, Tiernan, Riley

Subs: Dufour, Julie; Hammond, Madison; Press, Christen

DNP: Moriya, Miyabi; Nabet, Lily; Norris, Bre; Reid, Megan; Stambaugh, Hannah; Zelem, Katie

POR Starting XI: Arnold, Mackenzie, Reyes, Reyna, Obaze, Isabella, Hiatt, Sam, Torpey, Kaitlyn, Coffey, Sam, Sugita, Hina, Moultrie, Olivia, Payton, Linnehan, Castellanos, Deyna, Turner, Reilyn

Subs: Hanks, Caiya, McKenzie, Mallie, Spaanstra, Alexa, Tordin, Pietra

DNP: Bixby, Bella, Hirst, Sophie, Perry, Jayden, Daiane, Kelley, Moira

Check out the Angel City FC Statistics

• Discuss this story on the National Women's Soccer League message board...

National Women's Soccer League Stories from March 21, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central