Angel City Football Club Nails Game Winning Goal in Stoppage Time to Earn Three Points against Washington Spirit
NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Nails Game Winning Goal in Stoppage Time to Earn Three Points against Washington Spirit

Published on May 2, 2025 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


WASHINGTON, D.C. - Angel City beat Washington Spirit on the road tonight in a 4-3 thriller, with goals by defender Gisele Thompson, midfielder Katie Zelem, and a brace by forward Riley Tiernan. Forward Gift Monday and defender Esme Morgan scored for the Spirit.

Angel City opened the scoring in the 8th minute with a goal by Tiernan, her fourth of the season. The play started with forward Alyssa Thompson playing a well-weighted through ball to defender MA Vignola as she made a run into the 18. Vignola took the ball to the endline before sending a diagonal ball toward the center of the box, where Tiernan was making a run and one-timed a low shot into the back of the net.

The visitors doubled their lead in the 22nd minute when midfielder Alanna Kennedy sent a long ball over the top to Thompson on the left. Thompson crossed the ball into the six-yard box, where defender Gisele Thompson jumped to make contact and volleyed the ball past goalkeeper Sandy MacIver from close range.

Washington pulled one back in the 30th minute, with midfielder Gabby Carle sending a long ball over the top. Forward Ashley Hatch flicked a header to the corner of the six-yard box, where defender Esme Morgan caught up to the ball and finished with an angled shot that landed inside the far post.

The Spirit equalized ten minutes later when forward Rosemonde Kouassi pounced on a miscleared ball and knocked it over the top for forward Gift Monday as she was making a run. The Nigerian international volleyed the ball into the net to bring the score to 2-2 in the 40th minute.

ACFC started pushing for goal early in the second half, with Alyssa Thompson cutting past her defender and putting a shot on frame in the 50th minute, but MacIver saved. MacIver was called on again in the 63rd minute as forward Claire Emslie curled a free kick over the wall toward the upper 90, which the Spirit keeper dove to swat away for a corner kick.

In the 72nd minute, Angel City regained their lead. Gisele Thompson and midfielder Katie Zelem exchanged a pair of one-two passes on the right edge of the 18, with Zelem then creating space between herself and a defender and sending a right-footed shot into the back of the net to bring the score to 3-2.

Washington again equalized in the 89th minute when Carle sent a long ball over the top to forward Brittany Ratcliffe, who headed it back across the back line. The ball deflected off an Angel City defender and fell to Morgan, who got a foot on it for a scrappy goal.

But ACFC wasn't ready to call it quits, and in the eighth minute of stoppage time, Tiernan scored a second goal to secure the win. Forward Christen Press headed a corner kick by Emslie down towards the mouth of goal, where Tiernan was lurking and nailed a one-touch shot into the top netting.

Angel City is back at home next week, taking on the Utah Royals on Friday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m. live on NWSL+ and Paramount+.

ACFC MILESTONES

Defender Gisele Thompson scored her first career NWSL regular-season goal in the 22' and her third career NWSL regular-season assist. Her goal was assisted by her sister, forward Alyssa Thompson (11th career), making it the first sister-to-sister goal in NWSL history.

Rookie forward Riley Tiernan scored her fourth career NWSL regular-season goal in the 8' of the match. She then hit the game-winning goal in the 90+8' of the match, making it her first career NWSL Regular Season brace. She has scored five goals in the last five matches for the club.

Defender M.A. Vignola earned her fourth career NWSL regular-season assist in tonight's match.

Forward Julie Dufour made her first career NWSL regular-season start in tonight's match.

Second most-goals scored in a match in Angel City club history. Most scored was five against Portland on 2023 Decision Day.

Angel City is the first club in NWSL history to score a goal in the first 15 minutes of a match in four consecutive road games.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Defender, Gisele Thompson

On scoring her first career goal and it being a sister-to-sister goal:

"I'm so happy we got the win and the sister-to-sister goal. I feel like we've always dreamed about this. Doing it together is amazing and getting my first goal was just so incredible. A dream come true."

On how the club can improve defensively late in matches:

"I think just working on the balls in the air and defending crosses. We've been working on that, but just being clinical in the end of the games and staying focused. We lose momentum, so shifting that and gaining more momentum in that aspect. We're continuing to work on that throughout the season."

ACFC Forward, Alyssa Thompson

On bouncing back late in the game:

"After every goal that they scored on us, we knew what the problem was. It's about being able to address it and then move on from it. We wanted to win the game, so having that fight in us to keep scoring goals, no matter what the score, helped us a lot. We had a belief this game that no matter what happened, we were winning or we were coming away with points.

"We've been disappointed with our last couple of performances, so knowing that this was a crucial win and crucial points. We knew what our job was and everyone on the field stuck to that. I'm really proud of the team coming out of that."

On scoring four goals in tonight's match:

"We've been working a lot on getting in the box and scoring, along with different ways of scoring. Our team has proven that there are multiple different ways that we can score off set pieces, off crosses, off individual things. We're really excited for what's to come and just continuing to build off that momentum in the final third."

On tonight's strategy and being able to take full advantage of the gaps in the defense :

"I knew since there are a lot of people on me, I wouldn't be able to have as much space as I would like to get into the box and shoot. I knew that there are different ways to get my teammates in better positions. Even off the cross, hitting that in the first time was helpful because everyone was coming towards my side, and then I'm always left in a 1-v-1 situation.

"It's adapting to the game and knowing when there's a lot of people on me. I have to combine more with my teammates in order to get the ball more forward and then get myself into good spaces to score too."

ACFC First Assistant Coach, Eleri Earnshaw

Overall thoughts on tonight's match:

"There's a common term, "NWSL After Dark", and we lived up to that expectation. We were disappointed with the result against Orlando, and we felt like we stumbled to the finish line. We asked the team at halftime to sprint to the finish line and we did that."

On Gisele scoring her first goal and the Thompson's sister-to-sister goal:

"They do everything together. It makes sense that one assisted and one scored. I'm really happy for Gisele. She's always a threat in the final third. When you see how far she traveled to get into the box and her movement to get blindsided the center back, recognizing the center back's position, and then darting in front with the timing that she did, it's a really mature piece of football from her."

On recruiting Riley Tiernan and seeing her progress today:

"There were others more instrumental than me in that recruiting process. I definitely reviewed a lot of film on her in her college game where we knew that she had an edge. We knew that she was great back to goal, not only in protecting the ball, but turning and creating. We also knew that she could finish.

"We were looking for a young, hungry player to bring in. She came into preseason, as well as all the rookies, to be fair to the rest of them too. They've just played with such determination and a willingness to learn. You're seeing the rewards of that now."

On Christen Press's performance tonight:

"Christen had a very good week of training, and earned the minutes she's got tonight. We knew that her experience was necessary late in the game. I don't know if you were on the sideline, but hearing her on the pitch, managing the group, she was nonstop and incessant with communicating from the second she got into the game. That was massive for us tonight."

Box Score - May 2, 2025 (Audi Field)

Goals:

LA - Tiernan 8' (A: Vignola)

LA - G. Thompson 22' (A: A. Thompson)

WAS - Morgan 30' (A: Hatch)

WAS - Monday 40'

LA - Zelem 72' (A: G. Thompson)

WAS - Morgan 89'

LA - Tiernan 90+8'

Shots Saves Fouls Offsides Corners

WAS 11 4 12 1 1

LA 22 1 15 1 9

LA Starting XI: Anderson, Angelina; Gorden, Sarah; King, Savy; Vignola, M.A.; Thompson, Gisele; Kennedy, Alanna; Fuller, Kennedy; Zelem, Katie; Dufour, Julie; Thompson, Alyssa; Tiernan, Riley

Subs: Emslie, Claire; Hammond, Madison; Miyabi; Press, Christen; Reid, Megan

DNP: Stambaugh, Hannah; Nabet, Lily; Niehues, Maiara; Phair, Casey

WAS Starting XI: MacIver, Sandy; Bernal, Rebeca; McKeown, Tara; Carle, Gabby; Morgan, Esme; Miura, Narumi; Stainbrook, Heather; Hatch, Ashley; Morris, Makenna; Kouassi, Rosemonde; Monday, Gift

Subs: Bethune, Croix; Ratcliffe, Brittany; Ricketts, Chloe

DNP: Kingsbury, Aubrey; Boade, Meg; Brown, Courtney; Dulaney, Kiley; Sylla, Kysha

Check out the Angel City FC Statistics

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