Angel City Football Club Falls to North Carolina Courage on the Road
NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Falls to North Carolina Courage on the Road

Published on September 13, 2025 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOS ANGELES - Angel City Football Club (ACFC) fell 1-2 on the road today against the North Carolina Courage, following goals by forwards Manaka Matsukubo and Brianna Pinto. Forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir notched the single goal for ACFC.

The Courage opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Matsukubo received a pass from forward Meg Linnehan and turned defender Sarah Doorsoun to sprint into the 18 from the right wing. She again cut past her mark to open up space for herself and fired a shot into the far side of the goal to bring the score to 1-0.

North Carolina doubled the lead in the 19th minute. Midfielder Shinami Koyama played a line-splitting pass to Linnehan as the forward made a run up the right. ACFC defender Gisele Thompson intercepted Linnehan's pass into the box, but the deflected ball fell to forward Brianna Pinto, who sent her shot into the top netting.

In the 22nd minute, the hosts had another chance when Shinomi found forward Tyler Lussi with a through ball into the box. Lussi cut past her defender and sent a sideways pass into the six-yard box, but Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson dove on the ball to stop the attack.

The hosts started the second half with a 50th-minute chance off another Linnehan cross. Lussi got on the end of the service and tapped a shot on target, but Anderson again stopped her attempt.

Angel City had their first shot on target in the 68th minute when midfielder Nealy Martin sent a short pass to forward Riley Tiernan across the edge of the 18-yard box. Tiernan put an angled shot on frame, but goalkeeper Marisa Jordan saved.

The Courage had another look in the 71st minute when forward Aline Gomes Amaro made a run up the right to the endline and sent a pass to the penalty spot, looking for Lussi. Lussi bobbled her shot, but midfielder Riley Jackson was crashing the box and sent a shot just wide of the far post.

ACFC narrowed North Carolina's lead in the 88th minute with a well-executed team goal, starting with Forward Christen Press finding defender Miyabi Moriya at the right edge of the 18. Moriya combined with forward Jun Endo to work her way into the penalty area, then found forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir near the center of the box. Jónsdóttir had a close-range shot and didn't miss, sending the ball past Jordan and into the back of the net to bring the score to 2-1.

The goal was Jónsdóttir's first for Angel City. Today's game was also the first start and first appearance for midfielder Nealy Martin, who the club just acquired in a trade with Gotham.

Angel City is back at home at BMO Stadium this Thursday, September 18, taking on the Washington Spirit at 7:30 p.m. PT.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir

On what she's learned since joining the NWSL and Angel City FC:

"I've been having fun on the pitch, but as a forward, you want to score in every game and that hasn't been going well for me. I'm happy I scored in this game, but it's not as nice to score in a loss. I hope this goal opens up more goals for me."

"I've been having fun with the girls, we've been playing well, and I think we're doing so much better than we were before. We're playing football and enjoying it, but we need to connect two good halves, play a whole game and start from the first minute. My games have been fun. I love being on the pitch. I just want to score more."

On Nealy Martin joining ACFC and M.A Vignola taking a new position:

"Nealy is a great player and did well today in her first game for Angel City. It's exciting to get a new player in and show her around. We know that we have good quality in our team, and adding her in is going to make us even better."

"Of course Alyssa left, but M.A. has been playing as a left wing and I think she's been doing really well. M.A. is a great player and I hope she'll play more minutes, and she'll get the goal in as well. It's probably hard for her to come in as a winger as she's been playing in defense, but she's a really good attacker too."

ACFC Head Coach, Alex Straus

On the first half of the match:

"There was one team that came out guns blazing and there was one team that was not switched on. We cannot start games 2-0. That is what happened. We were maybe the better team as the game went on, but when you start a game at 2-0, it is going to be hard.

These are things we need to address and fix. It is not acceptable. I think there are three times in our box in the first 20-25 min and it is two goals. I am very disappointed. We made mistakes. We started the game by giving the ball away without pressure. They got in the front foot and we didn't get into a rhythm. They won the game in the first 20-22 minutes. There are consequences."

On the second half:

"I saw that we got out into the second half and we got some more momentum from the start. We were ready to go then. We got more control. We did that after 30 minutes. We switched the structure and played in a little bit of a different shape. We changed a little bit and we got control of the game. Our performance got better. I still think we need to create more chances, have more urgency to get into the box, and have more finishes.

"Then again we scored a beautiful goal with five minutes to go. To be honest, when we scored, I believed we would get one more. It needs to be urgent. We need to play the phases of the game and today we didn't manage it."

On the addition of Nealy Martin:

"I think Nealy came on and gave us stability. We got more control of the game. She gave us rhythm. We didn't give away the ball that much after she came in. She wins more 50-50 situations than we did before she came on. That is why we brought her in and I am happy with her performance."

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National Women's Soccer League Stories from September 13, 2025


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