NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Win Streak Continues with Challenge Cup Victory Over Portland Thorns

Published on July 29, 2023 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOS ANGELES, CA - Angel City Football Club (ACFC) beat the Portland Thorns 2-1 tonight in a 2023 UKG NWSL Challenge Cup match, following a brace by midfielder Savannah McCaskill and a goal for the Thorns by forward Morgan Weaver. ACFC goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, making her first professional appearance and first start, had an outstanding game, keeping her team in the game with two crucial late-game saves. The team moved into second place in the West with the result, with one game remaining in the group stage.

Angel City opened the scoring in the ninth minute when defender Sarah Gorden found defender Jasmyne Spencer with a long diagonal pass to the right wing. Spencer took a few touches to wait for runners to arrive in the box, then sent a cross into the six-yard box. McCaskill was crashing the net and headed the ball decisively past Thorns keeper Bella Bixby.

Gorden had a clutch defensive play in the 22nd minute when midfielder Reyna Reyes ran onto a through pass on a transition play and was in on goal, with forward Hannah Betfort also making a run. Gorden sprinted back and overtook Reyes just in time to make the tackle, sending the ball out over the sideline.

The visitors scored an equalizer against the run of play in the 44th minute when Betfort, dribbling up the center of the field, found defender Natalia Kuikka on the right. Kuikka ran forward into the box and sent a lateral pass to forward Morgan Weaver, who took a touch to control the ball, then sent it past goalkeeper Angelina Anderson as she dove in full extension.

ACFC started the second half strong when in the 47th minute, McCaskill curled a gorgeous free kick over the Thorns wall, past a diving Bixby and just inside the far post.

The home team came close in the 62nd minute when defender Paige Nielsen headed a corner kick by midfielder Clarisse Le Bihan on target- but Thorns defender Meghan Klingenberg blocked the shot off the line with a header.

The pace picked up in the last ten minutes of regular time, with the Thorns throwing numbers forward to try to find an equalizer.

In the 83rd minute, Nielsen committed a foul in the box against midfielder Olivia Moultrie, conceding a penalty. Moultrie stepped up to take the kick and sent her shot low and to the left; Anderson dove to the ground to make the save. Anderson made another great save less than a minute later, going to ground to claim a close-range attempt by Moultrie.

Portland didn't stop pushing during the 10 minutes of added time, but gritty work in Angel City's defensive third kept the visitors off the board.

Angel City's next match- their final group-stage Challenge Cup game- is next Saturday, August 5, away at San Diego at 4:30 pm PT on Paramount+.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson

On the penalty save goal:

"Saving the PK was awesome. It was just one of those moments where I was locked in. I was in the zone and the only thing that was going through my head was just to save it. That was all I could do and I'm happy I got it done for the team."

On knowing when she was going to start and preparing for the game:

"I found out two days before the game. Usually, we get the full starting lineup the day before. I had to change my mindset a bit. Usually, I'm either in the warmup or might not even be on the bench."

"I had to change my mindset about what it would really look like and feel like to play in a game. I personally do a lot of visualization, getting in my own head space, and that really helped me out for this game."

On her overall defense tonight:

"My defense came up big time tonight. Their positioning on the field makes it really predictable sometimes for me to make a big save. That was major and helped me out."

"From my perspective, training every day with the best in the league, with Savannah [McCaskill] shooting on me every day, is pretty good practice. It becomes muscle memory and you just do what you have to do."

ACFC Midfielder Savannah McCaskill

On leading Angel City in all time goals (in all competitions):

"It's crazy. I have made it a goal of mine, no pun intended, to put myself in situations to score more goals over the past two years, and put myself in situations where I'm closer to the goal, creating goals, and scoring goals.

"To be able to finally start putting some in the back of the net these last few runs of games, feels good and it helps my confidence. I just want to help this club win. I'm really passionate about trying to help us make the playoffs, help us win games, and whatever I can do. That is what I'm going to try to do, and if scoring goals is that, then I'm going to keep trying to score goals."

On the teams overall confidence right now:

"We've made strides in the past month and a half. Training has been competitive, and that's where it starts. The mindset and the standards have been there, day in and day out. Everyone's showing up to get better collectively, and that's showing now in the results that we're getting in the performances that we're putting out on the field."

"We just have to continue it. The confidence is coming from the fact that we're doing it every single day in training and it's correlating on the field. It's about executing in games like tonight when things weren't always 100 percent there. We were a little sloppy at times. We allowed them to get momentum back into the game, but we still grinded out results and that's really important."

"The more that we can build on that, the more confidence that we have, the more that we can play together, is also building on the confidence. The relationships, especially in our offense, are starting to get better. That's where scoring our goals is coming from. We just have to continue to put in the work every single day. The confidence will continue to grow, and the results will come."

On watching teammates play in the world cup:

"The World Cup has been so fun to watch. The games that we've been able to watch with the time change are a bit wonky. However, being able to watch people's dreams come true, and Julie [Ertz} going back to another World Cup after having a baby is amazing."

"Alyssa's [Thompson] first World Cup at 18, that's unbelievable. Ali [Riley] being able to captain New Zealand, with Jun [Endo] coming back from injury and absolutely killing it. Seeing them be able to thrive and live out their dreams of playing in a World Cup is exciting for all of us. We're just back here cheering them on."

ACFC Interim Head Coach Becki Tweed

On Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson making her professional debut:

"When we drafted her in January, we knew she was an incredible talent. We knew she needed to be in a professional environment and get some time. Credit to our Goalkeeping Coach Dan Ball. He's done an incredible job with all of our goalkeepers. Now we're in a space where we can play all three of them, and it is competitive."

"You get to a stage as a goalkeeper where you have to find out if you're ready or not. Angelina proved to the world why she's a professional goalkeeper now."

On Midfielder Savannah McCaskill's brace:

"She played brilliantly today. We asked her to face forward as much as she can because when she faces forward, she causes problems for the other team. She has a good variety of her passes, she can pick out players, and she can dribble."

"We wanted to play with bravery tonight. We had to come out, be brave tonight, and show who we want to be as a soccer team, and really find our momentum in the attacking third. That's what we asked Savannah to do, and she did a brilliant job."

On Amandine Henry's status:

"She's coming in from potentially playing in the World Cup, so we have to manage her as a human and then manage her as a player. She's come here focused, and she wants to play. We have to find the right moment to get her on the field based on the fact that she's had a crazy six months with a couple of injuries, moving countries, being on the World Cup squad, and now she's come back to us."

"We need to make sure she's prepared and ready for her debut, which is important. She's a complete professional and understands that she wants to be ready and when it's the right moment, she'll play. She's not injured, it's about getting her to game fitness and finding the right moment to make her debut."

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National Women's Soccer League Stories from July 29, 2023


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