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NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Falls in Hard Fought Battle Against Racing Louisville FC on the Road

September 14, 2024 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOUISVILLE - Angel City lost 1-2 on the road tonight to Racing Louisville FC following goals by Louisville forwards Bethany Balcer and Janine Beckie. ACFC midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard scored for the visitors.

After a relatively uneventful opening to the game, Angel City opened the scoring in the 18th minute, when forward Alyssa Thompson intercepted a pass by Louisville defender Abby Erceg. Thompson burst forward and sent a diagonal ball to forward Claire Emslie, whose shot was blocked by goalkeeper Katie Lund. Dougherty Howard was lurking centrally in the box and slotted the rebounded ball away inside the far post. The goal was Dougherty Howard's first for Angel City.

Just a minute later, Thompson had a look of her own when Emslie played a ball over the top that the 19-year-old sprinted onto. She took a right-footed crack from inside the box, which went just high.

Much of the rest of the half was a back-and-forth, transition-heavy affair, with neither team maintaining control of the midfield. In the 26th minute, Louisville capitalized on one of those transitions. Midfielder Ary Borges lofted a diagonal ball over the top for forward Bethany Balcer, who was hovering near Angel City's back line. Balcer jumped to beat her mark to the ball and headed the ball into the back of the net to level the score.

Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haračić made a big save in the 34th minute when defender Courtney Petersen fired off a rocket from the left edge of the 18. Haračić got one glove on the ball to deflect it out for a corner kick.

The remainder of the half saw few real chances from either side, and the teams headed into the locker rooms level after five minutes of stoppage time.

The visitors came out of the break swinging, with Lund making several impressive saves to keep them off the board. The first came in the 54th minute when midfielder Katie Zelem served a lofted ball diagonally into the box for defender Madison Curry, who put her header on target- but Lund blocked it out for a corner.

In the 58th minute, Lund came up big again after Thompson dribbled past Petersen to send a pass to Dougherty Howard in the box; Dougherty Howard's attempt was on frame, but the goalkeeper again saved.

Louisville gained the lead in the 68th minute. Forward Janine Beckie intercepted a pass in Angel City's defensive third, sprinted forward and beat her mark, and fired an angled right-footed shot into the back of the net.

Angel City continued to push for a goal for the remainder of the game. They came close in the 71st minute when defender M.A. Vignola cut in off the left wing and took a hard shot from the edge of the 18. Lund made the stop yet again.

ACFC plays again next Monday, September 23 at home against Portland Thorns. The 7:00 p.m. game will be broadcast locally on Bally Sports and elsewhere on CBS Sports Network.

ACFC Milestones

Midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard earned her first ACFC goal in the 18' of today's match.

Forward Christen Press appeared in her 98th career NWSL regular season match after entering in the 70'.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Midfiel;der Meggie Dougherty Howard

Overall thoughts on tonight's match:

"The goals we conceded were preventable and self-inflicted. We had good stretches of play and were able to control the game at times, but we gave them too many opportunities to punish us for our mistakes."

"It's not as if we're being outplayed or as if we're tactically not up to the task. It's just things that we are falling a little short on, but we can fix those and take control of those moments. All of this is within our control, and we can make these adjustments and changes."

On takeaways from the match:

"We have good stretches throughout the game and that has been consistent throughout the last few games. It's a matter of dominating the game for longer stretches. There's going to be times when we're not clean and we're not perfect."

"It's about locking that down defensively. We could be a little bit better there and prevent teams from capitalizing on opportunities when we're really not giving that many opportunities in games. We can get a little better in that regard, but going forward I don't think we need to change a whole lot with what we're doing on the ball."

"We are confident, and we are going to start causing problems for teams. We are dangerous when we get in and around the box. Getting in those positions more and being more threatening is something we need to focus on. We are in a good position and we don't need to panic. We just need to turn around and get ready for the next game."

ACFC Head Coach Becki Tweed

Overall thoughts on tonight's match:

"Disappointing. This is a place that we want to come to and pick up three points. Similar to last week, we caused ourselves the problems today. We created chances, gave too many passes away in dangerous areas, then struggled to defend and transition, and teams are targeting us right now."

"We've got to rethink this a little bit. We have to look at why we keep conceding goals the way that we keep conceding them and make some minor adjustments. We don't ever want to come away from our identity. We create enough chances to win the game."

On key takeaways from tonight's match to prepare for Portland Thorns FC:

"We obviously have to look back at this match and really not watch it with emotion. I've got to watch it out of a state of fact and we have to be a little bit more direct."

"We have to play them beyond the back lines, turn them, and have them face their own goal and defend a little bit more. We're just giving away too many balls when we're facing our own goal and creating our own transitional moments. I think that's something that has happened too many times this year."

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