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NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Keeps Clean Sheet in Hard Fought Win Over Seattle Reign FC on the Road

October 5, 2024 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


SEATTLE - Angel City Football Club defeated Seattle Reign FC 1-0 on the road tonight following a goal from defender M.A. Vignola. The win kept the team's playoff hopes alive heading into the final three games of the season.

After a back-and-forth start to the match, Angel City started to pick up momentum around the 20-minute mark, with forward Alyssa Thompson sending a few crosses into the box. In the 28th minute, Thompson found forward Messiah Bright at the near post with a cross from the left, but Bright's header missed its mark.

Seattle had their best chance of the half in the 31st minute, when forward Tziarra King sent a long diagonal service to the far side of the six-yard box, where forward Ana-Maria Crnogorčević was making a run and connected with the ball with her head- but Angel City keeper DiDi Haračić blocked the attempt for a corner.

Thompson had her own attempt in the 33rd minute, this one blocked by a defender for a corner.

In the 34th minute, the visitors scored the game's lone goal following a give-and-go play between Thompson and Vignola. As Vignola cut inside toward the penalty area off the left wing, she found Thompson with a short sideways pass. Vignola continued her run, collecting a well-weighted through ball by Thompson with the outside of her foot, taking a step, and firing off an angled shot with her right foot, which landed just inside the far post to give Angel City the lead.

Angel City kept pushing for the remainder of the half. They had another look in the 44th minute when forward Claire Emslie received the ball on a short corner kick and sent it into the mixer. Midfielder Katie Zelem headed the initial service into the crossbar, with defender Megan Reid getting her foot on the rebounded ball but failing to put enough power into her shot.

The visitors had their final chance of the half in the 47th minute, when Bright got her head on the end of a corner kick- but her attempt once again went wide.

The second half was relatively quiet offensively from both teams, with Reign getting a couple looks that posed little trouble for Angel City's defense.

In the 54th minute, Haračić had another save. On a transition play, King and midfielder Jordyn Huitema combined to find forward Veronica Latsko inside the 18. Latsko fired off an angled shot, which Haračić dove to block; defender Sarah Gorden cleared the deflected ball.

In the 80th minute, it was Gorden's turn to keep Seattle off the board. Crnogorčević ran onto a short through ball from Huitema on the right side of the 18, turning to send the ball into the six-yard box with a single touch- where Gorden blocked it for a corner kick before it could land in the run of an onrushing attacker.

Tonight brought Angel City's scoring streak to eight games, with a total of 12 goals across that span.

The team's next match is on the road next Saturday, October 12, against the North Carolina Courage. The game will be broadcast on ION.

ACFC Milestones

Defender M.A. Vignola scored her first goal of the 2024 NWSL regular season in tonight's match, making it her fourth career NWSL regular season goal.

Forward Alyssa Thompson earned her seventh assist of the 2024 NWSL regular season in tonight's match, making her second in the league in assists behind Croix Bethune who has 10.

Goalkeeper DiDi Haračić earned her fourth clean sheet of the 2024 NWSL regular season in tonight's win, making it the 14th of her career.

Forward Christen Press earned her 99th career NWSL regular season match appearance in tonight's win.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Team Captain and Defender Sarah Gorden

Thoughts on the team's performance in tonight's win:

"To be able to come out tonight and put on a great performance on both sides of the ball, our best performance in weeks, exactly what we've been looking for and what we've been training for. It says a hell of a lot about this group."

"I am so proud of the team. Focusing at training and focusing on the game and the things you can control. That's really been the message within the group is focusing on the things that you can control. Putting in a performance where you're just proud of it, you're just enjoying it and it's really about doing it for each other at this point. Whatever happens, happens, that was the messaging."

"I'm so proud of the girls for getting on board and working their butts off in this game. Whatever happens, we just want to put in performance after performance that we're proud of to end the season."

ACFC Defender M.A. Vignola

On her goal:

"It is interesting because we have been working a lot in practice on our defensive shape and also on set pieces, and our shape behind the ball. That was a really good clearance on them, but we also have Sarah with that speed back there. She got to the ball first. When she played it to me, I just faced up and didnt see anybody, so I just took the space. I think that is something we have also been working on a lot too. Having the confidence to go in one-v-one situations. A little combination on the outside and I finally got my shot on goal."

On her connection:

"I am so proud of Alyssa. She has grown so much as a player and our connection has grown a lot too. I think that with me starting at the lower center back, it is a little different. Me in a low block building, but with her out wide, there's never any question I can play her the ball. I think on that little combination play it describes what we have been working on and finally the pieces are coming together."

ACFC Head Coach Becki Tweed

Overall thoughts on the match:

"It was an important win for us. A huge performance from the players and it is really satisfying that we kept a clean sheet, which is something we've struggled with. Not only to keep a clean sheet, but we limited them to opportunities. We had that fight and grit in us."

"The first half performance was absolutely brilliant and we were in control. There are still things we need to work on, but the clean sheet and the result is the brilliant work by the players and how they remained focused and got the job done. Now we can leave here with three points."

On her message to the team:

"Players always find a way to come together and that's what they did tonight. The message was that we are here to do a job. We are here to leave everything we have on the field. As a group, we are here to get every ounce that we can out of each other and get the best out of each other. Every bit of energy we have, we wanted to leave here in Seattle and we wanted to leave with a performance and with three points. That's exactly what they did tonight."

"The message is always the same. We want to go into every game with a mentality that we can win, perform, and out play anybody, and I think we showed up tonight."

On controlling what they can control:

"We can't focus on what we can't control. We have another game next week that we need to head into and we have three points to get. Then we have two more games we have to get three more points in."

"All we can control is how we show up every day. All we can control is the performance that we put forward. For the last three games you can see this group is going to fight until the end no matter what it takes. Three points in the next three games is all that we are focused on."

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