Angel City Football Club Scores Equalizer in Front of Sold out Home Crowd to End Match in Draw against Portland Thorns FC

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Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Scores Equalizer in Front of Sold out Home Crowd to End Match in Draw against Portland Thorns FC

September 24, 2024 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOS ANGELES - Angel City Football Club (ACFC) drew the Portland Thorns 2-2 at home tonight following goals by forwards Alyssa Thompson and Claire Emslie, with forward Morgan Weaver and midfielder Olivia Moultrie scoring for the visitors. The match marked the thirteenth sell out in club history with 22,000 fans celebrating the first-ever Hello Kitty Night at a women's professional sporting event.

The Thorns had the first chance of the game, in the eighth minute, when forward Christine Sinclair played a pass across the six-yard box to Morgan Weaver, who shot with her left- but goalkeeper DiDi Haračić made the stop.

Angel City opened the scoring in the 10th minute. Midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard played a short diagonal ball to forward Alyssa Thompson on the wing, and she sprinted forward into the penalty area, made a quick cut to the right to beat her mark, and took an angled shot. The ball hit the inside of the near post and ricocheted into the back of the net to bring the score to 1-0.

With the Thorns pushing hard for much of the half, Haračić came up big several times to retain the lead. In the 13th minute, midfielder Marie Müller played a diagonal ball into the box for Weaver, who shot from close range, but Haračić dropped low to make the save. One minute later, Weaver intercepted the ball in Portland's attacking third and sent a cross to midfielder Olivia Moultrie, who beat her mark centrally; after Haračić and defender Jasmyne Spencer both appeared to block the ball, midfielder Katie Zelem partially cleared it, but the Thorns regained possession, with Haračić eventually stopping a follow-up attempt by forward Jessie Fleming.

Forward Claire Emslie had a look in the 28th minute, connecting with a ball over the top by Zelem with her head and putting it on target, but goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold saved.

The Thorns equalized early in the second half. In the 49th minute, forward Christine Sinclair slipped a through ball into the box to Müller, who sent a lateral pass to Weaver for a one-time finish.

The hosts came close to regaining the lead in the 58th minute, when a corner by Zelem fell to the middle of the six-yard box. Defender Madison Curry took a shot, which was blocked by a defender's body, then made a second attempt that went just wide of the far post.

In the 64th minute, Portland took the lead. Defender Kelli Hubly played a cross into the 18, where Moultrie was lurking; she settled the ball and sent it into the back of the net with a right-footed shot.

Angel City equalized in the 76th minute when Spencer beat defender Isabella Obaze around the outside and sent a lofted ball into the six-yard box. Arnold blocked the service, but the ball bounced high off her hands and fell to the goal line, where Emslie was making a run and volleyed it home.

Haračić had one more clutch save in the 86th minute, tipping a shot by Obaze over the bar with one hand to keep the score level.

Angel City is at home this Friday, September 27 at 7:00 p.m. against the Washington Spirit live on Prime Video.

ACFC Milestones

ACFC Forward Alyssa Thompson scored her ninth career NWSL regular season goal in the 10' of tonight's match, making it six of her nine goals that were scored in the first 10'.

ACFC Forward Claire Emslie earned her seventh 2024 NWSL regular season goal in the 76' of tonight's match, making it her 13th career NWSL regular season goal.

Angel City Football Club recorded their fourth sold out crowd of 22,000 fans this season at tonight's match, making it their 13th sell out in club history.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Defender Madison Hammond

On Portland's formation:

"Their formation was interesting to break down. They played a back-five for a lot of the game and looked to pounce on our possession in the back since we were trying to build out of the back. We were successful at times, but other times we created more problems for ourselves."

On the team's mindset:

"Our messaging to each other the last few weeks has been to believe in ourselves. We are aware of where we are in the standings. It can be easy to create a negative atmosphere, but we see Alyssa [Thompson] pop off in the last few games scoring goals; so it isn't our confidence, production or ability. It is more about creating momentum.

"Coming back against any team in this league is hard and it is easy to go down, especially when you're ahead, to put your head down. We know the rest of the season isn't going to be easy, so the little moments that come up like speed bumps are part of the job. The more we are prepared to come back, get ties, and continue to get points for the rest of the season; we'll put ourselves in a good position for the rest of the year."

On playing with Katie Zelem:

"It has been a nice balance of experience and a different way of seeing the game. I like to play with the ball at my feet and combine, so she's a nice compliment to that for me. She is really confident on the ball as well, so it gives me even more confidence in the middle of the field where it can always be chaotic. She and I have a good balance working off of each other, and that fluidity will just keep developing and growing for us to have a more dynamic attack."

ACFC Forward Alyssa Thompson

On her recent scoring success:

"I'm not seeing anything differently. I'm just getting myself into better positions and am more confident in myself. Knowing that I can take the ball up to create something whether it be passing the ball off or by scoring."

On the similar nature of her recent goals:

"Christen and I will practice it after training. Getting those reps in and gaining more confidence has helped a lot. Once I score, she and I are normally finished, but in the game I'm more confident in myself and know that I just need one chance to finish."

ACFC Head Coach Becki Tweed

On lessons learned from tonight's match:

"It's definitely not the outcome [we wanted]. I'm proud of the group and I think a 2-1 game could have gone any way but we ground out a result again."

"It was scrappy. It was ugly. We still have to learn from our own mistakes. When I look at both goals, they're so preventable for us, which is frustrating. It's been the story of our season so far, and that's what we have to continue to fix."

"We've just shown that we're in this for the scrap and the fight in these last five games, and we're going to leave everything that we have as a team and as a group on the field. We have to continue to grind out results, pick up points along the way, and try to keep this in our control as much as we can."

On Claire Emslie's performance:

"Obviously a great performance from her. Something that they did was come out in a different formation and tried to sit in a space that stopped our tens from getting on the ball. If you play five at the back, you can have players pop off the line and defend those spaces."

"We had to find that solution for Claire to be able to get her on the ball. She's such a good playmaker for us, and her movement needed to be late. It wasn't predictable, and she really has the soccer IQ to be able to figure out what it takes to get on the ball and cause problems for the other team."

On tonight's sold out crowd:

"This is huge for the NWSL. When you put midweek games on, especially in LA, I'm sure you also had traffic to get here, because I did."

"It's just such a huge thing for this league and the growth. What this club does is incredible in terms of leading the way in fan engagement. That was something that was really special tonight, and that second goal came from that desire of not just the players, but the atmosphere and the environment that we create here."

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