Angel City Football Club Falls to NJ/NY Gotham FC at Home in First Loss of the Season

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NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Falls to NJ/NY Gotham FC at Home in First Loss of the Season

April 19, 2025 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOS ANGELES - Angel City Football Club (ACFC) suffered their first loss of the 2025 NWSL Regular Season, falling 0-4 against NJ/NY Gotham FC at home. Forward Esther González earned a brace, along with an own goal while Geyse finished the match off with a goal in the 85th minute.

The first half saw one goal in the 18th minute, as González received a cross in the box from forward Gabi Portilho, where she was able to get a shot off her left foot to score the opening goal.

The remainder of the half was a back and forth battle with Angel City fighting hard to equalize before the two minutes of stoppage time came to a halt. The first half finished in 48 duels for each club, with ACFC winning 54 percent of those battles.

In the second half, both clubs notched several fouls and yellow cards, before Gotham's defender Lily Reale sent a pass in the box intended for González, but ended up bouncing off of ACFC defender Miyabi's head, landing in the back of the net and counting as an own goal.

In the 75th minute, González received a corner kick from Gotham midfielder Sarah Schupansky, hitting a header in the net while running away from the right side of the goal post to put the visitors up 3-0. The 76th minute saw 17-year-old ACFC forward Casey Phair, who is the youngest player to ever start in a Women's World Cup match, make her NWSL Regular Season debut.

Angel City saw an opportunity in the 84th minute where forward Christen Press would receive a crisp ball wide pass from midfielder Kennedy Fuller where she was able to send a cross in the box towards midfielder Alanna Kennedy that was snagged by goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.

The final goal came from Gotham's forward Geyse, who received a pass from forward Midge Purce who forced her way in the box in the final seconds of the match, lobbing a pass across to Geyse.

Angel City is back on the road, facing Orlando on Friday, April 25 at 5:00 p.m. PT. That match will air nationally on Prime Video.

ACFC Player Milestones

Forward Casey Phair made her NWSL Regular Season debut in tonight's match. She is the youngest player in club history to debut in a NWSL Regular Season match.

Forward Riley Tiernan played against her sister Madison's former club. Madison scored 5 goals in 42 games for then-Sky Blue FC from 2017-19.

Defender Miyabi earned her first career NWSL Starting XI appearance since joining the club in preseason.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Team Captain, Sarah Gorden

On what type of response she wants to see out of the group:

"We have a really young squad right now. Everyone knows that and we just played a really experienced team. This is part of the process and it's part of a long season. The most important thing is how we respond. Going into practice this week is about focusing on the next step and moving forward."

On what to say to the young players on these results:

"It is hard. As you can see our energy is low, especially having that result here at home. It's about focusing on the moment at hand. We went down 0-2 and it was about trying to get one back. We do feel at times in the game we had them on their heels. We just weren't able to get the final ball in. All you can really do is focus on the next moment at all times. We can't hang our heads. The girls will learn with experience. They all do a good job with carrying themselves maturely.

ACFC Midfielder, Alanna Kennedy

On takeaways from the game and how to turn page quickly:

"We're disappointed with the result. It was a little tough giving up that second goal. It killed our momentum. It was hard for us to claw back in that moment of the game as well. It is about taking our chances sooner when we have that momentum and not getting ourselves down four goals in the end. Ultimately, it's part of the process. We've been proud of the performances up until now. This is just a bump in the road and we'll turn it around quickly. The mentality of the team is still positive."

ACFC Interim Head Coach, Sam Laity

On the team's culture:

"The culture in this group is so positive and so strong that I don't have any fear or any worries whatsoever on what this result is going to do. Let's separate the result from the performance. I don't think it's going to do anything but provide additional motivation for the players to bounce forward from this. I've been in environments before where this would have been a big hit, and rightly so. I will say the culture in this group is very, very positive. It's an elite culture."

Overall thoughts on the game:

"I would agree with Alanna's sentiment, the second goal really deflated us. It took us out because we were in the ascendancy at that point and putting them under pressure. We had the ball near half the field, we looked like we were creating chances. So the timing and then the nature of the goal, across, the defender tries to head it, but that bursts our bubble for sure.

Box Score - April 18, 2025 (BMO Stadium)

Attendance: 18,465

Goals:

NJY - Gonzalez 18' (A: Portilho)

LA - Miyabi 67' (OG)

NJY - Gonzalez 75' (A: Schupansky)

NJY - Geyse 85'

Shots Saves Fouls Offsides Corners

LA 9 1 17 2 1

NJY 12 0 12 2 1

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

Subs: Phair, Casey, Press, Christen, Reid, Megan, Zelem, Katie, Hammond, Madison

DNP: Stambaugh, Hannah, Dufour, Julie, Johnson, Hannah, Nabet, Lily

NJY Starting XI: Berger, Ann-Katrin, Reale, Lily, Sonnett, Emily, Howell, Jaelin, Torress, Taryn, Gonzalez, Esther, Schupansky, Sarah, Martin, Nealy, Portilho, Gabi, Silva, Jessica, Carter, Jess

Subs: Geyse, Purce, Midge, Whitham, Mak, Bruninha, Nyamekye, Stella

DNP: Betos, Michelle, Elgin, Emerson, McCamey, Tyler, Harper, Khyah

Check out the Angel City FC Statistics



National Women's Soccer League Stories from April 19, 2025


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