Angel City Football Club Notches 4-2 Victory over USL Super League Club Carolina Ascent FC at BMO Stadium
NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Notches 4-2 Victory over USL Super League Club Carolina Ascent FC at BMO Stadium

July 26, 2025 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOS ANGELES - Angel City Football Club (ACFC) beat the Carolina Ascent FC 4-2 in a friendly at BMO Stadium tonight. Alyssa Thompson notched all four goals for the hosts, with forwards Riley Parker and Audrey Harding scoring for the Ascent.

Carolina scored their first just two minutes into the game. Parker forced a giveaway in Angel City's defensive third, past the last defender- drawing goalkeeper Angelina Anderson off the line- and shot from the top of the 18 to give her team the early lead.

Angel City had a near miss in the 10th minute, starting with midfielder Jun Endo serving the ball in to forward Riley Tiernan in the box. Tiernan's shot hit the far post; the recycled ball bounced between several players before falling to forward Alyssa Thompson, who had an attempt but wasn't able to put it away.

In the 30th minute, ACFC broke through when midfielder Kennedy Fuller scooped up a loose ball in the box. Her forward pass bounced off an Angel City player before again landing at the feet of Thompson, who beat goalkeeper Megan McClelland as she dove for the ball, finishing from close range with the outside of her foot.

Thompson notched the go-ahead goal in the 35th minute, dribbling into the box from the left wing and taking an angled close-range shot with her left foot that beat McClelland at the near post.

Just a minute after that, newly signed ACFC forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir dribbled into the box and was fouled for a penalty. Thompson stepped up to take the kick in the 37th minute, sending her attempt to the right; McClelland dove the right direction but was too late to stop it, bringing the score to 3-1.

Thompson notched her fourth and final goal in the 49th minute. Tiernan received a long pass from Fuller at top of the 18, where she turned to send a diagonal pass into the box for Thompson. The forward cut past several defenders and slotted the ball into the back of the net.

The Ascent found the back of the net a second time late following an 89th-minute corner kick. The kick fell into a scrum of players from both teams and fell to the ground near the goal line, where forward Audrey Harding put it away.

This was the first time Thompson scored three or more goals in a single game, as well as the first time any Angel City player scored four in one game.

Angel City plays their first regular-season game after the summer break on August 1 at 7:30 p.m. away at Seattle. That game will stream live on Paramount+. The club's next home game is Thursday, August 21 at 7:30 p.m. against Orlando. Tickets are available here.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Forward, Alyssa Thompson

On her mentality going into a friendly game versus an NWSL:

"I feel like for these games, I tried to keep my mindset the same as if it was a regular NWSL game. I wanted to make sure that our team was ready to play in the next game, so just keeping that mentality going and hopefully everyone else came with that too."

On playing alongside the new additions of Evelyn Shores, Sveindís Jane Jónsdóttir, and Hannah Seabert:

"Evelyn and I have a good connection on the field. We knew each other before, so it's really nice to be able to play with her again. With Sveindís, she brings a lot to the attack, and I appreciate her for just being able to run in behind, along with Riley [Tiernan] and Jun [Endo]. I like that combo in the attack. With Hannah [Seabert] coming in, she's brought really good energy to the team and she's been really good in goal."

ACFC Head Coach Alex Straus

On where the team is in the process of implementing his style of play:

"It's a very different race. One thing is to get something going early, and the model of play that we are building here. It is a big book and we need to start at page one. We need to work on things, adjust, and make small changes in what we do.

"Today, we tried to see how we could arrive more dangerous in the final third. We are always working, and it's still a process. The process of us getting where we want to be and where we're going to be in this, is no doubt in my mind.

"It's not like everything is fixed in 24 hours, in two or three weeks, or even in five weeks. It takes a long time to start something. We had a good game today. We needed to get out there a little bit. We saw good moments of what we've been working on with combination playing and finding the balance of going in between the lights and going in behind."

On making adjustments and having high standards for the team:

"We go too much in between, so we need to find that right balance in our tank, defensively. The team was really good in the high press before I came. We also wanted to keep the intensity in the high press, so we just made some small adjustments there. Today, we saw better moments than we did last week against Bay FC in our counter pressing and how we regained the ball.

"It was quite good today, and that is still a lot to work on. We need to be humble, and we need to keep our heads down. We're all excited about what we started here and this journey that we're going to go on together. It's going to be some of the biggest things that we have accomplished, any of us."

Check out the Angel City FC Statistics



National Women's Soccer League Stories from July 26, 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