NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club Wins Preseason International Friendly Match Against Club América Femenil

Published on March 9, 2023 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOS ANGELES - Tonight, Angel City Football Club (ACFC) beat Club América Femenil 3-0 in a preseason friendly at BMO Stadium, their first public match of 2023.

Eighteen-year-old rookie forward Alyssa Thompson opened the scoring in the fifth minute, making a solo run out of pressure in the midfield, beating the final defender to get in on goal, and dribbling past goalkeeper Itzel González as she dove for the ball. Thompson calmly put away a left-footed finish into the empty net from the left side. She attended English class at Harvard-Westlake School this morning before heading to BMO Stadium for the match.

After the goal and what had been a frantic first five minutes, the game settled down and ACFC started to connect more passes. Some combination play up the wings yielded a few near chances for the home team, and in the 17th minute, defender Paige Nielsen picked up a recycled ball and took a crack from 20 yards- but her effort was tipped over the bar by González.

In the 29th minute, a corner kick- one of sevenAngel City earned in the first half- yielded another chance when Nielsen tapped the deflected ball back towards Thompson near the endline. Thompson one-timed the ball towards a scrum of players crashing the goal, but González dove to claim the ball.

Thompson had another chance in the 33rd minute when Nielsen received a pass from forward Jun Endo in midfield, made a run up the left half space, and sent the ball to the rookie forward. Thompson beat several defenders as she made a run similar to the one that led to her goal, but this time González blocked her shot for a corner kick.

Midfielder Savannah McCaskill was the next LA player to get a look on goal, in the 37th minute. Endo made a diagonal pass to McCaskill, who made a straight run up the center to get one-on-one with González, but the keeper blocked her shot.

After what had been a quiet first half to that point, keeper DiDi Haračić saw some action in the 38th minute when América defender Sabrina Enciso took a long-range crack. Haračić jumped and got a glove on the ball to tip it over the crossbar.

In the 44th minute, América had a final chance for the half. After Haračić punched a free kick by forward Katty Martínez away from goal, the ball fell to Enciso. She took a crackfrom distance, but her shot went wide, and the two teams headed in for the halftime break with the score at 1-0.

ACFC doubled their lead in the 56th minute when forward Claire Emslie, who was celebrating her 29th birthday, sent a lofted ball into the six-yard box; González blocked the initial ball, and defender Megan Reid headed it down and back towards goal. It fell to Nielsen, who turned and sent a right-footed finish into the net.

In the 66th minute, Head Coach Freya Coombe made four substitutions: Haračić for Brittany Isenhour, Emslie for forward/midfielder Katie Johnson, defender Sarah Gorden for midfielder Clarisse Le Bihan, and defender Jasmyne Spencer for defender Ali Riley. There were two more changes for Angel City ten minutes later, with Thompson coming off for forward Simone Charley, and midfielder Dani Weatherholt leaving the game for midfielder Lily Nabet. With 66 minutes on the pitch, Gordon made her return to the pitch after tearing her ACL last preseason, officially making her ACFC debut.

Those substitutions paid off in the 85th minute when Charley received a pass from Johnson in midfield and made a solo sprint to beat the América defense in transition. She took a touch to beat goalkeeper Itzel Velasco's dive (Velasco had subbed in for González a few minutes prior) and slot in an angled finish.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

Alyssa Thompson, ACFC Forward

On her day and whether she was nervous:

"This morning, I woke up early because I was a little nervous and a little anxious. I went to school with my sister. I had English. Then I went back home. I was getting more nervous as time progressed. I was just trying not to think about it that much. My dad took me here and I slept in the car just thinking about the game. And then when I got here, I was just trying to focus and just try to feel comfortable because I was really nervous. Once I stepped on the field, I felt better. I felt comfortable with my teammates, and I felt prepared for the game and what was going to happen."

On if scoring helped relax her:

"It definitely helped relax me. I felt like everything that I've prepared for up until this moment has helped me score that goal. Just feeling the hugs after and my teammates surrounding me was such an amazing feeling. It definitely took some weight off my shoulders."

On if there is anything in particular she is learning from the veterans on ACFC:

"Yes, the quality of finishing. Once they have a chance, they take that and finish, so I feel like they've definitely held me to a higher standard in training, so that definitely helped me continue to grow."

On how it felt to score her first professional goal in front of her hometown fans:

"It felt amazing and honestly surreal. I obviously wanted to go on the field and try my best and score. I was really happy. Being able to be surrounded by my teammates as I said was so amazing and the hugs and just everything that I worked for in this preseason kind of came to a good ending with that goal."

On what it means to not only have her hometown, but also have a country [the Philipines] behind her:

"It means everything to me. I think I come from so many different backgrounds and being able to inspire little girls that look like me, that want to play soccer and don't have someone to look up to. It's really cool. I never thought I would be doing it so young, but I think it's such a good opportunity for me to be here and inspire people."

Freya Coombe, ACFC Head Coach

On Alyssa Thompson:

"It was a fantastic debut for her [Thompson] in front of the home supporters that we had. I thought she took the goal so coolly, like she had played in 100 games in this stadium. The occasion didn't put her off. I think she made the correct decision in the way in which she finished and swatted it home. I think that she looked threatening all night and was able to work. And I think she mentioned the communication with her teammates, which was evident with players like Claire Emslie putting her arm around her during the game, offering her words of advice, being able to advise her. And that makes such a difference. I think we're a team that's willing to support her and she's willing to support the team. So it's a great relationship."

On how the team is coming along:

"We're making good progress. We're happy with the layers that we're able to add in. Now tonight was a great example of us being able to give slightly more minutes to some players. We've been sharing minutes so far in preseason. It was a good chance to get some minutes with players and expose them to a bit of a challenge."

"The exposure that they're having now of working together and that experience, it's coming together nicely. Obviously a preseason friendly is not the NWSL, it's not the long season that we have to go into. We're not going to get carried away or too excited. Club América came off of a game two days ago, so the big test now is going into the NWSL season where all the teams are hungry and have parity. They're all going out to win a championship and now we have to compete and dig deep."

Check out the Angel City FC Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



National Women's Soccer League Stories from March 9, 2023


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