NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Wins 2-1 Against SoCal Rival San Diego Wave FC in 2023 UKG NWSL Challenge Cup Match

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


LOS ANGELES - Angel City Football Club beat rivals San Diego Wave FC at home in the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup tonight, following goals by midfielder Madison Hammond and forward Clarisse Le Bihan.

Angel City started the game with a bang when they opened the scoring in just the second minute. A corner kick by midfielder Clarisse Le Bihan fell to defender Paige Nielsen, who chipped the ball over a few defenders and into the six-yard box. Midfielder Madison Hammond was crashing the net and headed the ball past goalkeeper Shae Yañez from point-blank range. The goal, scored at 1:19, was the fastest in UKG Challenge Cup history. It was also Hammond's first professional goal, making it the first-ever goal scored by a Native American in the history of the league.

After a brief spell of possession by San Diego deep in Angel City's attacking third, ACFC was on the front foot for most of the remainder of the half.

The home team notched a second goal in the 18th minute when defender Megan Reid sent a long forward ball over the top for midfielder Savannah McCaskill. McCaskill sprinted to reach the ball in the penalty area and one-timed a sideways pass across the face of goal to forward Scarlett Camberos, who found Le Bihan at the six-yard line as she had dropped back to get free of her mark. With Yañez focused on Camberos at the far post, Le Bihan tapped it home.

Angel City had another chance in the 26th minute when forward Jasmyne Spencer sprinted up the right and beat defender Madison Pogarch around the outside. She sent a sideways pass to McCaskill, but her shot hit the post.

San Diego defender Mia Gyau had a dramatic off-the-line save in the 36th minute, when McCaskill served a ball to Le Bihan in the box and she put her shot on frame.

Hammond had another chance in the 38th minute when she got her head on a cross from the right by defender Ali Riley, but her attempt hit the woodwork.

Early in the second half, keeper Brittany Isenhour made a pair of saves, first stopping a 51st-minute effort by midfielder Taylor Kornieck from just inside the box, then one by forward Melanie Barcenas, who had run onto a through ball into the 18.

In the 63rd minute, San Diego pulled one back when defender Kaleigh Riehl headed a corner kick by forward Jaedyn Shaw away from goal to the feet of midfielder Danielle Colaprico. Colaprico settled the ball and fired off a left-footed rocket from the edge of the box and into the back of the net.

Forward Katie Johnson put one more attempt on frame for Angel City in the 79th minute, but the score stayed at 2-1. National team replacement players Elizabeth Eddy and Kelsey Hill each saw their first minutes with Angel City, entering the game in the second half.

ACFC plays next on the road this Sunday, July 2 at 2:30 p.m. PT at NJ/NY Gotham FC. The game will be broadcast locally on Bally SoCal and streamed on Paramount+.

GAME NOTES:

Madison Hammond scored her first career NWSL goal in all competitions, becoming the first Native American to score a goal in NWSL history.

She also scored the fastest Challenge Cup goal in NWSL history (2')

Clarisse Le Bihan scored her second career NWSL goal in all competitions.

Scarlett Camberos earned her second career NWSL assist in all competitions.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

ACFC Defender, Madison Hammond

On her goal:

"We work a lot on set pieces and have this phrase of, 'scrappy equals happy,' and thought back to the last game against San Diego when Paige [Nielsen] had a great goal against them, but also I was like 'what if this deflects in a weird space?', so I decided to gamble for it. I usually don't score anything with my head so it's really exciting to be able to put it in the back of the net."

On the team's confidence today:

"The confidence comes from our belief in each other and we have been consistent in performing in training for the past couple of weeks. You have to develop that level of consistency, competitiveness, and challenge each other to be better. Then you have moments like today where players get opportunities and they're ready to meet the moment."

"The confidence comes from preparation and from us being able to rely on each other. I felt today was a complete team performance, people picking each other up after mistakes and also challenging each other to be better in certain moments. That's the kind of stuff that is going to take us forward, especially while these national team players are gone. The national team players being gone doesn't mean that our team's level is going to drop because we have been pushing the starters and non-starters for this whole season."

On upcoming Women's World Cup and how it can change the sport:

"The 2019 World Cup was a big shift in terms of bringing culture to the sport and now there's a unique opportunity to elevate that even more. The reason I think like that is because you don't know who's going to win."

"There's a lot of teams, particularly, the U.S, New Zealand, and other big powerhouses who have gotten a lot stronger in the last four years. It's going to be great to see the sport having developed so much in the last four years."

"You can look at it from even the 2015 World Cup, the disparity between leagues because of the resources, because of the time and effort put into these nations was very low to be honest. Now in 2023 it's going to be really exciting because the playing field is going to make the games really fun to watch."

ACFC Defender & Captain, Ali Riley

On what it means for New Zealand to host the 2023 World Cup:

"It's very meaningful to have a home World Cup. It's something that is out of your control as a player because it's not up to us if our countries have the resources and win a bid. For New Zealand to go in with Australia and have this very unique first time, a co-hosted World Cup, is really special."

"After seeing what Angel City has done here in Los Angeles, what the '99 World Cup did for women's soccer in this country, my dream is that we could kick start something similar. It might take a long time, but this could be the catalyst for change to grow the game in New Zealand."

"New Zealand is not known as a soccer country, and I want every little girl who follows to suddenly think, wow, I want to play sports. Sports did so much for me as a person and of course, I have been able to make it to a national team and play professionally."

"When I was a young girl, sports gave me confidence. It taught me resilience, teamwork, leadership, and so many other things. I want every little girl to have the opportunity to feel and learn those things. If these little girls in New Zealand feel inspired to pick up a sport, I hope it's soccer, of course. But from watching the World Cup, when the best players in the world and the best teams in the world are in their backyard, that's the way that we can actually change something for, for women, for young girls in New Zealand. That's my dream."

On support from her parents and her roots in LA:

"My parents have supported me in every way. The game has grown so much now, looking at the salaries again, we're still pushing to grow even more. Looking at the opportunities players like Alyssa [Thompson] have an opportunity to not just to play in this country, but there are so many clubs around the world and that wasn't the case when I was growing up."

"For me to be able to go to the WPS, which then folded, knowing that my parents could support me is a privilege that not a lot of players have. It gave me the confidence to follow my dream. The minimum salary is still low, but it's a very different landscape than it was, especially at the beginning of the NWSL."

"I'm very privileged to have the support of my family and for them to travel around the world to see me play. Now coming back to LA, I can give back to them because they've supported me so much. They have literally traveled around the globe to see me play, and now just have to sit in an hour of traffic."

On Madison Hammond's first NWSL career goal:

"Madison is so professional and she's played different roles on the team this season and last season. She is someone who is such a good teammate and has been working so hard. Those are the players that you want to have on a team. Those are the players you know are ready when their name is called. If they're on the sideline they're giving you all their energy so that you can do your job."

"When she is not starting, she's doing so well in training. Those players better be doing well because she's ready to take their spot. I just think that that is the character that we want at Angel City. These are the players that we wanted to sign here. This season there's been change and it's been a bit chaotic. The leadership that Madison shows and the way she played tonight, it shows that she has this calming presence."

"When we want to get three points at a time, we still can turn the season around and it will be because of players like Madison. For her to get that reward and score a goal, especially in something that we have been working on and she's been working on, I just really wanted to celebrate with her in that moment."

ACFC Interim Head Coach Becki Tweed

On overall match:

"We didn't know how San Diego was going to come out, and we knew that it could be different. They did end up coming out differently from what we expected. We needed to adjust to that, but if you get a goal early, that helps to give you more time and more confidence moving into the next 20-minute portion where you can figure out what their objective is and how we can counter that."

"Before the game, I said, 'I want you to make my job harder. I want you to make Sunday's games, team selection really hard,' and they have. That's what I asked them for, and that's what they've done. We'll move into Sunday as a squad, and we'll look at how we can best prepare for that."

On Jasmyne Spencer's recent performances:

"Jasmyne [Spencer] is incredible one-on-one. She's confident when she's in the attacking third. She works hard inside and outside both sides of the ball. She looks natural as a winger. The next piece for her is the goal. She hit the crossbar today, and a good save in the last game from Jane Campbell."

"Today she got through 70 minutes of good-quality production. Being versatile is really important and I still think she can play multiple roles. I've just seen her love and enjoyment of the winger and she fit really naturally in there. With Alyssa [Thompson] gone, we don't want to change our style of play, and she fits that role brilliantly for who we want to be."

On National Team Replacement Players:

"Kelsey [Hill] has been with us since preseason, and she's worked incredibly hard. She's been a huge team player for us, and to give her a professional debut was a moment that is brilliant for a coach, but just for how much she deserves it. She's worked so hard to get it, and to come in against our rival team, in front of your home crowd isn't easy and she dealt with it really well."

"Liz [Eddy] has been a pro for years so we knew what we were going to get from her coming in. She fits that mold of one-on-one, she's versatile and a competitor. She's always going to play to win everything and fits in really well. The plan was to make sure that we keep building momentum and make sure our players stay fit and healthy. Those two fit in straight away for us. It was an easy decision to be able to bring them on."y.com

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


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