Angel City Football Club Flies High with 7-0 Victory Over FC Juarez in International Friendly

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NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Flies High with 7-0 Victory Over FC Juarez in International Friendly

August 19, 2024 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOS ANGELES - Angel City Football Club (ACFC) beat Liga MX Femenil side FC Juárez 7-0 in a friendly tonight following a hat trick by forward Messiah Bright, a brace by forward Claire Emslie, and a goal each for defender Megan Reid and forward Alyssa Thompson.

Angel City opened the scoring in the first minute when Emslie served a ball into the penalty area. The ball was initially blocked by a Juárez defender before falling to midfielder Kennedy Fuller, who settled the ball with her knee before sending a volleyed pass to Bright, who was lurking in space in the box. Bright's confident one-touch strike hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced into the goal.

The hosts didn't take long to double their lead, with forward Alyssa Thompson sending a service back into the penalty area from the endline. After midfielder Rocky Rodríguez and defender Madison Curry each got a piece of the ball, it landed in the run of defender Megan Reid, who hammered it into the back of the net.

Bright notched her second in the eighth minute, beating a defender to the right of the 18-yard box to find space, then shooting with her left foot. Goalkeeper Renata Masciarelli blocked her initial effort, which bounced straight back to Bright, and the forward sent the rebounded ball inside the far post to bring the score to 3-0.

In the 18th minute, Angel City was awarded a penalty kick when Thompson was fouled by defender Destinney Duron. Thompson stepped up to the spot and buried her attempt in the lower right corner of the goal.

Emslie found the back of the net in the 22nd minute after Bright sent her a lateral pass in the midfield. The Scottish international took the ball forward into the right side of the box, beating a defender and Masciarelli to find the back of the net from just outside the six-yard box.

Bright completed her hat trick in the 36th minute. Reid initially got her head on a corner kick from Emslie, with the ball then falling to the goal line near the far post, where Bright controlled the ball and tapped it across the line with her right foot.

In the 45th minute, Emslie added a seventh, sending a free kick curving just under the crossbar from 25 yards.

The second half was relatively uneventful, though it did see a near miss by Las Bravas in the 54th minute. Midfielder Liliana Mercado served a free kick to the six-yard box, where defender Julitha Singano got her head on it, but her attempt hit the crossbar.

In the 56th minute, forward Christen Press had a near miss. Midfielder Lily Nabet sent a long through ball past Juárez's defense, which Press ran onto before dribbling past a defender and putting her shot on frame. Forward Karla Morales dove to block the shot in the upper left-hand corner of the goal.

The game saw a handful of milestones for Angel City players, including Bright's first Angel City goal and first professional hat trick- which was also Angel City's first-ever hat trick as a club. Reid's goal was her first as a professional, while goalkeeper Hannah Stambaugh, who subbed in for DiDi Haračić in the 29th minute, earned her first minutes for Angel City. The game also marked a club record for most goals in a single game, beating the previous record of five, which the team set against Portland on October 15, 2023.

Angel City plays again next Saturday, August 24 at 1:30 p.m. PT on the road in San Diego.

ACFC Player Milestones

Forward Messiah Bright scored her first Angel City goal in the 1' minute, making it the fastest goal in club history.

Bright also earned her first professional hat trick and is the first player in club history to record a hat trick.

ACFC's seven goals set a club record after they scored five goals last year against Portland on decision day to clinch a spot in the 2023 NWSL playoffs.

Goalkeeper Hannah Stambaugh earned her first ACFC match appearance in the first half of tonight's match.

Defender Megan Reid scored her first professional goal in tonight's match in the 3' which is now the second fastest goal scored in club history.

Forward Christen Press made her return to the pitch for the first time at BMO Stadium since coming back from injury in June of 2022.

For the first time in club history, ACFC played 22 players, including all three goalkeepers on the roster.

ACFC Forward Messiah Bright

On scoring a hat trick tonight:

"I blacked out on the first one, but once you get one as a striker, you're looking for another one, and another one. I was just hungry to finally be in that position to do that for my team."

On her approach with getting some key minutes since Summer Cup:

"It's just finding my rhythm with moving to a new team. You have to create that chemistry with the girls. This Summer Cup, I definitely utilized that, building a bond and building a connection with everyone. Those games that we played in the Summer Cup, really helped out a lot with building that chemistry with each other."

On playing freely and the club's momentum:

"Our main mantra is playing freely and we showed that tonight, especially in the final third, being a little bit fluid with our movements and not being stagnant in certain areas like playing off of each other."

"Like Sarah [Gorden] said in the locker room, painting our own canvas and creating our own story. We are definitely using that as momentum going into the second half of the season."

ACFC Head Coach Becki Tweed

On the club scoring seven goals:

"At one point I looked at the scoreboard and it was five shots on goal, five goals, which is amazing. Something that we've talked a lot about is being clinical in the final third. It doesn't matter who you're playing against, you have to be able to hit the target and test goalkeepers.That's what we did really early."

"Obviously scoring so early allows us to get momentum. You see the joy, the happiness and the freedom that this team has started to play with. That's really important for us to take that momentum into the second half."

"It shows in Messiah's [Bright] performance, too. I talked to her before the game about just how many minutes and and the expectation for her in that time, and she exceeded that massively. You can see her fitness, her confidence, and just the problems that she can cause with the opponent when she's really confident. Hopefully she can take that momentum into the second half of the season."

On the club playing more freely:

"It's being able to play and embrace the good and the bad. You have to be able to find joy in the good, and you have to be able to find joy in the struggle. Sometimes we set the standard, as professionals that we want everything to be perfect. When it's not, it becomes an issue and we become stressed about it."

"That's something we've talked a lot about is playing with that, freedom and that joy that when you make mistakes, you're gonna try again and you're gonna try again and you're gonna try again and you're gonna keep getting on the ball, and nobody's performance is gonna be perfect."

"You never walk away from a game of soccer and say I was absolutely perfect today, from a staff from a player perspective, or from an entire game perspective. Being okay with not being perfect is absolutely what you have to live and deal with, but being brave is something that's important, and if you're brave in your performance, you'll get the rewards from it."

On playing all 22 players and Hannah Stambaugh getting some minutes:

"The biggest cheer of the night was for Hannah, and that for me, is so special. She's a player that doesn't often get minutes or game time. She's in an incredible group of goalkeepers where the competition level is so high. To see how excited the team and fans were for her and how she embraced that moment, is the reason you're part of a team."

"Those moments are really special, as special as any goal you can score or anything that you can win. Those moments really matter to and how this group has embraced Hannah, and how Hannah has come into this environment is special."

"For every player that stepped on the field tonight, it was great for everybody to feel like they were able to play a part in a result and a performance. I always talk about your impact. It's everything versus playing time. Tonight to be able to reward everybody with that playing time was really special and important."

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