Angel City Football Club Plays to a Draw against Rival San Diego Wave FC in 2025 NWSL Season Home Opener
NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Plays to a Draw against Rival San Diego Wave FC in 2025 NWSL Season Home Opener

Published on March 16, 2025 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOS ANGELES - Angel City Football Club (ACFC) drew San Diego Wave FC 1-1 at home tonight in the 2025 season opener, with forward Alyssa Thompson scoring for ACFC and forward Gia Corley getting on the board for the Wave.

San Diego kicked off the scoring early, with forward Delphine Cascarino sprinting up the right wing to beat the Angel City defense and sending a sideways pass into the center of the 18, where forward Gia Corley was making a run. Corley made a sliding one-touch finish to put the ball in the back of the net.

San Diego kept pushing and soon had another chance. In the 10th minute, midfielder Kenza Dali sent a free kick just inside the penalty area, where the ball grazed Cascarino's head before ricocheting off an Angel City defender. Cascarino waited for the deflected ball to drop and fired a volley toward the far post, where it went just wide.

Angel City picked up some momentum as the game went on, earning their first quality chance in the 19th minute. Forward Alyssa Thompson dribbled up the left wing to the endline, cut left to beat her mark, and served the ball to forward Claire Emslie at the edge of the six. Emslie put her volleyed shot on frame, but goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan did well to save the close-range attempt.

The hosts had another near miss in the 33rd minute when Emslie sent a long ball into the path of Thompson's run. Thompson dribbled into the box to line up a shot, but Sheridan pounced to force a turnover before she could make an attempt.

In the 42nd minute, Dali found forward Kyra Carusa near the top of the 18 with a long ball from midfield. Carusa tapped a sideways pass to Corley, who took a one-touch attempt that went just wide.

The second half opened with a big save from ACFC goalkeeper Angelina Anderson. In the 48th minute, Cascarino found midfielder María Sánchez at the edge of the six-yard box with a cross; Anderson dove for an impressive stop against Sánchez's close-range attempt.

Angel City started pushing again and had a chance in the 51st minute, with defender Gisele Thompson making a solo attempt from just outside the penalty arc. Sheridan dove to stop it, but the ball was just wide.

ACFC notched the go-ahead goal in the 54th minute. Midfielder Kennedy Fuller sent a long through ball into Alyssa Thompson's run up the wing; Thompson cut into the penalty area, beat two defenders, and wrong-footed Sheridan to slot the ball inside the far post.

In the 68th minute, Angel City almost combined for another goal, with defender MA Vignola sprinting onto a pass from Fuller and passing to forward Riley Tiernan in the box. Tiernan found Gisele Thompson playing back to goal in the six-yard box, who found her sister near the 18-yard line, but the elder Thompson's shot was deflected out.

Angel City additionally had two more big defensive plays. First came a well-timed tackle by defender Sarah Gorden to stop Cascarino from getting one on one against Anderson. Anderson made her own stop in the 81st minute, diving to grab a long-range shot by forward Melanie Barcenas.

Barcenas had another attempt in the 89th minute, again shooting from distance, but Anderson tipped it over the bar to keep the score level.

Angel City plays again this Friday, March 21, at 7:00 p.m. Pacific on the road against Portland Thorns FC. The match will stream live on Prime, with a radio broadcast on iHeart. The ACFC official Los Angeles watch party will be held at Grand Central Market.

ACFC Player Milestones:

ACFC rookies Riley Tiernan and Macey Hodge, along with defender Miyabi Moriya and forward Julie Dufour, made their NWSL career debuts in today's match.

Defender Savy King and midfielder Alanna Kennedy made their ACFC debuts in today's match.

ACFC forward Alyssa Thompson earned her 10th career NWSL regular-season goal, tying for the most in club history.

Midfielder Kennedy Fuller earned her first career assist in the 54th minute to help equalize the match.

Rookie forward Riley Tiernan's appearance brings the total number of sister pairs who've both played in NWSL to eight (Madison Tiernan played for Sky Blue FC, now NJ/NY Gotham FC, from 2017-2020).

Team captain and defender Sarah Gorden is now at 9,923 NWSL regular-season career minutes after tonight's match. She is now 77 minutes shy of reaching the 10,000 minutes played milestone.

Defender Miyabi Moriya is the third Japanese national to debut this opening weekend, alongside Manaka Hayashi (CHI) on Friday and Shinomi Koyoma (NC) last night.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Team Captain and Defender Sarah Gorden

On the result:

"We came into the game with the goal to play direct and keep them in their end. It seems like in the beginning they were doing what we were planning to do, but after we got it together and figured it out, we did start to attack the game plan as the game went on.

"A tie is not a win, but in a lot of ways it did feel good, because we created a lot of chances. Obviously, there's a ton of things we need to clean up... it's the first game, but San Diego is a really good group with some great players on the ball. So it posed a lot of difficulties for us, especially in the beginning."

On playing alongside Savy King:

"It's a really new partnership for the both of us. We've had maybe one and a half scrimmages where we've gotten to play together. She's an incredible defender. She reads the game really well. She's athletic, smart, technical, so it's been great playing with her."

"We're just trying to figure each other out and I think we're kind of similar in ways that we're both very athletic center backs. I'm continuing to kind of see where and when she likes to step, she's aggressive and I love that so it's been a joy. So I'm excited to grow in our partnership.

On the grit and resilience of the team:

"I think going into the season, we have 'relentless' and 'ruthless' written on our walls. Those are things we take very seriously, but we constantly make these home games like playing in our fortress. I think that grit and ruthlessness and also knowing we have something special here."

"By being direct, pressing high....took us a second to get there, but we find it very important to be relentless and have grit."

ACFC Forward, Alyssa Thompson

On her defined position on the team:

"In the beginning, I was playing at the nine because we wanted to get in behind, and then I played on the left and went back to the nine towards the end of the game. I do like to be versatile and play these different positions. Being able to be in a different spot on the field gets me different looks on the goal, so yeah."

On playing with Riley Tiernan:

"It's really nice because she is a hard worker and she is going to defend the team. I like that because when she's high pressing, I know I can high press and everyone behind her is falling..the nine is super important for the press and in the attacking third she's always moving and ready to get the ball"

On her two plays in the game:

"I feel like they were pretty similar because there was a ball behind on the right side and I've been playing on the left so getting that first look was different ...but If i'm one-v-one with the goalie I should be scoring...I tried to dribble around her ...I could have been quicker or gone near post....with my second I was able to shift the defender and the keeper and go across goal."

ACFC Interim Head Coach Sam Laity

Overall thoughts on today's match:

"What we got from the players is what we saw throughout the course of preseason, which is a very resilient team. There were times today where we were under pressure and we held strong. The resilience will keep us in good status as we move forward throughout the season. This league is absolutely brutal so for us to show the determination in coming back from an early goal was very good."

On how to continue to build chemistry with the team:

"Building relationships through training, of course. The season opener is always a really difficult one. You're not sure what you're going to get. You've spent eight weeks in preseason. You've seen this version of yourself, you always have to plan to get punched in the face. Today exposed us in areas and that was good for us. Chemistry will come over time."

On things to work on for the next couple games:

"When we had our attacking shape we caused San Diego a lot of problems. When we had it right in preseason, we also caused the opponent a lot of problems. The first thing we need to do is make sure we do that on a more regular basis because that's who we are. We didn't do it enough and the question will be 'why?' and that's what video is for."

Box Score - March 16, 2025 (BMO Stadium)

Attendance: 19,728

Goals:

SD - Corley 5' (A: Cascarino)

LA - A. Thompson 54' (A: Fuller)

Shots Saves Fouls Offsides Corners

LA 10 5 12 0 2

SD 14 3 5 2 8

LA Starting XI: Anderson, Angelina, Gorden, Sarah, King, Savy, Vignola, M.A., Thompson, Gisele, Kennedy, Alanna, Fuller, Kennedy, Hodge, Macey, Emslie, Claire, Thompson, Alyssa, Tiernan, Riley

Subs: Dufour, Julie, Hammond, Madison, Moriya, Miyabi, Nabet, Lily, Press, Christen, Reid, Megan, Stambaugh, Hannah, Zelem, Katie

DNP: Hammond, Madison, Nabet, Lily, Press, Christen, Stambaugh, Hannah

SD Starting XI: Sheridan, Katie, Lundkvist, Hanna, Sanchez, Maria, Kenza, Dali, Corley, Gia, Wesley, Kennedy, McNabb, Kristen, Carusa, Kyra, Cascarino, Delphine, McCaskill, Savannah, Morroni, Perle

Subs: Armstrong, Trinity, Leon, Adriana, Barcenas, Melanie, Robbe, Mackenzy

DNP: Haračić, DiDi, Okwuchukwu, Chiamaka, Emmanuel, Favour, Ascanio, Kimmi

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