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NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Makes Club History with First-Ever Playoff Berth

October 15, 2023 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOS ANGELES - Angel City Football Club (ACFC) made club history today when they clinched a playoff berth after beating the Portland Thorns in emphatic fashion. The two-year-old team beat the first-place Thorns 5-1- the most goals Angel City has ever scored and the most they have ever won by.

The game was a back-and-forth affair over the first 15 minutes, with Portland maintaining the lion's share of possession, but not putting together many dangerous-looking attacks. Their best look was a shot by forward Morgan Weaver, which she hit from the left edge of the 18 yard box toward the far post. ACFC keeper Angelina Anderson made a full-extension dive to get to the ball, which she blocked out for a corner kick.

Around the 20-minute mark, the momentum shifted in Angel City's direction. One chance in the 18th minute came off a well-placed through ball from midfielder Savannah McCaskill that forward Scarlett Camberos connected with following a run around the outside. She then sent a low cross into the 18, which forward Sydney Leroux put on target, but goalkeeper Bella Bixby blocked for a corner kick.

Angel City kept pushing and finally broke through in the 36th minute. Forward Claire Emslie, sitting centrally in the pocket, played a simple forward ball to Leroux, which she sent onward to defender MA Vignola as she made a run up the left wing. Vignola charged forward, beat her mark, and sent an angled rocket from the edge of the 18 flying past Bixby and into the net.

The home team doubled their lead just two minutes later. In the 38th minute, Vignola played Emslie in on the left, and the Scottish international patiently looked for an opening against Thorns defender Natalia Kuikka. Finding space, she crossed the ball to the back post, where Camberos headed the ball past Bixby.

The Thorns had one attempt to close out the half, with midfielder Crystal Dunn putting a shot on target from a central area at the edge of the 18 that Anderson easily saved.

Angel City opened the second half swinging and made it 3-0 in just the 47th minute. When Dunn lost track of the ball near the halfway line, midfielder Amandine Henry scooped it up and tapped it up the wing for Emslie, who dribbled forward and held up the ball for a few moments. When Vignola arrived with an underlapping run, Emslie backheeled her the ball, and Vignola then sent in a cross for McCaskill at the near post, which she easily redirected into the net.

The goal of the match- and perhaps Angel City's whole season- came in the 51st minute when Camberos beat defender Meghan Klingenberg to send in a hard shot, which Bixby blocked. The ball arced high and fell to the feet of Leroux, who sent it into the back of the net with a bicycle kick.

Portland midfielder Hina Sugita pulled one back in the 79th minute, but was almost immediately answered. In the 80th minute, with the Thorns defense ball-watching, forward Alyssa Thompson dribbled sideways across their back line and found forward Jun Endo in lots of space on the left side. Endo dribbled a few steps and notched her team's fifth goal of the day with an emphatic left-footed thwack.

After six minutes of stoppage time, the center official blew the final whistle to give Angel City the 5-1 win.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Defender, M.A. Vignola

On the team's performance in a must-win playoff-clinching match:

"It was crazy for me because I haven't even played Portland yet this season. I've been dealing with injuries and sickness. This year has been crazy for me."

"These last 12 to 13 games, it has definitely been a test for us to stay as together as possible. That was the biggest thing today is bringing the energy for everybody, not just yourself. We're looking at something bigger."

"When we play our best and feel like we did today, we show that we could beat any team in the league. We displayed that tonight."

On the game prior to her goal in the 36th minute:

"The first fifteen minutes were a little scary. We didn't have the ball, but it was ok. We took a breath and with some of the water breaks that we had, we were able to regroup. We knew once we got ahold of the ball, to not to force anything down one side. When we got that big switch of play, which was key for us in attacking. We let our wingers do their thing."

"I saw the space and took it. I saw Bella Bixby cheating off her line, so I hit it back close and that was the momentum we needed."

On Becki Tweed possibly winning Coach of the Year:

"Becki has done an amazing job. Just look at what she has done. She knows how we work and how to say things to us. She knows how each player works."

"You can even tell at training that she's very in-tune with everyone individually. That helps us as a collective because it enables us to be able to talk to each other in certain ways. We push each other and get through the nitty and gritty. That's what she does best that was missing."

ACFC Defender Sarah Gorden

On earning Iron Woman of the Year after a year off from injury:

"It was definitely an expectation I had for myself coming back from an injury. Some injuries are out of your control and you can't always control everything that happens."

"It's great to be able to lead the team from center back. To be that rock every game is special."

On making the playoffs for the first time in club history:

"It feels amazing. We have thought about this moment since our first game and our first day of preseason, which was eight months ago. It's really special to make the playoffs and do it at home in front of our fans."

"It was a crazy day because there were so many teams that were close. We were all trying to win and get the final spot. It was a really exciting and special day."

On the performance the team displayed in a must-win playoff clinching match:

"We've talked about this in the locker room. The last 12 games for us have been must win games because of where we were just a few months ago being on a losing streak. Coming into this game, we already knew the mentality and performance we had to put on."

"It's a bit of poetic justice for us. We haven't forgotten what it was like to go into Portland and have them tie up the game in the final minute with their goalie a few months ago. Even the Challenge Cup game when they came back to win."

"That puts the chip on your shoulder even more. You have to win and then you're playing a team that did that to you. This was like a really special game for us."

ACFC Interim Head Coach Becki Tweed

On the match overall:

"We watched their press in detail and we knew that we could hurt them with our right and left back. We needed to be more patient in the build and keep the ball a bit better."

"Defensively we did a great job. We're disappointed to concede a goal, but it was working and we needed to believe that it could continue to work. We started the second half nil-nil which is what we went in at halftime and said we need to start the game again, and we did so it was good."

On the team's motivation coming into this match:

"To score five goals is incredible. It's something that we've talked a lot about being efficient in the 18 yard box. We knew goal differential was going to matter. The team was super motivated, this week has been brilliant. We knew that people wrote us off, but no one in the room wrote each other off. We were all in it and we all believed in it. We knew we weren't done."

"We're always going to push to improve. There's still so much more from this group. We're peaking at the right time and that's important. We're going to push to continue to go forward in this competition."

On the team's mentality:

"We have to look beyond. I know my title right now is interim head coach, but we have an incredible group of staff. We've won games in these moments that haven't just come down to the head coach or the players. There's a bigger squad than that. We say every day in the film room and at training, it's not about 11 players, it's about 26 people."

"We have players that grind every day and don't make the squad, but they keep going because they believe in the team. We have staff that are truly important to the vision that know we can be great. I can't speak highly enough of how the team has come together as a whole."

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