Angel City Football Club Fights Hard in Road Loss Against Kansas City Current

Sports stats

NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Fights Hard in Road Loss Against Kansas City Current

June 20, 2025 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


KANSAS CITY - Angel City Football Club lost 0-1 on the road to top-ranked Kansas City Current tonight following a goal by forward Bia Zaneratto.

Angel City held the Current scoreless during the first half, allowing just two shots on goal, an impressive feat against the best offense in the league.

The hosts had an early chance in the fifth minute when forward Michelle Cooper dribbled into the box from the right and sent a cross to defender Izzy Rodriguez, who sent her shot well high.

Their next attempt came in the 25th minute, when Rodriguez served a long free kick into the box. Defender Kayla Sharples got her head on the ball, but couldn't get enough power behind it to threaten goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, who dove to save it.

In the 31st minute, forward Temwa Chawinga had a look, first serving a lateral ball in to forward Bia Zaneratto, which defender Megan Reid poked out from under her feet. The ball fell back to Chawinga, but her shot was wide.

Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson had a big save in the 41st minute, diving to stop a shot from distance by midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo.

Both teams' offense picked up in the second half, with Angel City putting a shot on target in the 52nd minute. Forward Riley Tiernan tapped a short pass to forward Alyssa Thompson a few yards outside the 18; Thompson made a cut to shake her defender and unleashed a long-range left-footed shot, but goalkeeper Lorena saved.

The visitors had their best chance of the game, a penalty kick, in the 57th minute. Thompson- who also won the penalty when she drew a foul by Current defender Elizabeth Ball- stepped up to the spot and sent her shot left, but Lorena guessed correctly and dove to make the save.

In the 69th minute, Kansas City scored the only goal of the game. Chawinga got loose in the final third and had a one-v-one shot against Anderson, which the goalkeeper stopped but was unable to catch. Bia made a late run into the box and pounced on the second ball, taking a powerful driven shot that landed in the back of the net to bring the score to 1-0.

Chawinga had another shot in the 72nd minute, which Anderson also saved. The forward forced a turnover deep in Angel City's half, drove into the box, and took an angled shot from close range, but Anderson dove to the ground to smother it.

The Angel City keeper denied Chawinga a third time in the 90th minute; Chawinga again forced a turnover, this time dribbling toward the penalty spot and shooting, with Anderson then jumping to tip her shot over the bar.

Angel City had their final chance of the game in the 98th minute, when midfielder Macey Hodge sent a line-breaking forward pass to midfielder Katie Zelem at the penalty arc. Zelem turned and uncorked a left-footed shot, which Lorena dove to block out for a corner kick.

Despite the result, this game was the first time in 2025 the first-place Current scored fewer than two goals at home.

The NWSL begins a six-week-long break after this weekend. Angel City's next regular-season game will be August 1 away in Seattle. They will host the USL Super League Carolina Ascent for a friendly on Saturday, July 26 at 5:00 p.m.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson

"I am so proud of the team tonight honestly. We knew a big thing would be thwarting their offense especially in the first half. They score 75 percent of their goals in the first half and so we knew that would be a big help for us if we could do that."

"We all came to play. There were so many big moments from our backline, big tackles in the midfield. Great moments of pressure from up top. It was an overall team gritty defensive performance. I am super proud of us. We really put our all out there. It didn't go our way. One sneaked in. I think it shows a lot of growth. I am excited for where we are going.

"I am proud of the performance I put in. I wish I could have done something on that one goal, but that is my job. To come up big in those moments. I am happy I was able to do that for the team and give us hope in those moments. If I am able to make saves like that, I think we will be okay moving forward. We are going to score goals like we always do and if I do my job back there and play how I know I can play, I know it can help the team a lot."`

ACFC Head Coach Alex Straus

"We come to this stadium where there are a lot of goals being scored in the first half, but they score a lot of goals here, and they are the best team in the league. At the same time, we have let in too many goals in so far this season that is what has been bothering us.

"I don't think that many teams have come here and given them so many problems. You come to Kansas away, we need to execute our moments, we get that. We missed a penalty unfortunately, and then we made a mistake giving away the ball, which we knew was always going to be difficult against them.

"I'm really, really proud of our team today. It's by far, one of the best performances of this year, if you look at the stats and who you are playing against.

"This is the start of our process now. We go from here, we break now, recharge, and we will be a very difficult opponent for a lot of teams in the second part of the season. That is our target now.

"This week we took a lot of steps in how to not let in three goals every game because we cannot score three or four goals every game to win football matches. We tried, we made changes, they adapted well, and we got the one or two chances that you get here in Kansas, and we didn't execute them. That's unfortunate for us, but the performance was very, very good."

Check out the Angel City FC Statistics



National Women's Soccer League Stories from June 20, 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