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NWSL Angel City FC

Angel City Football Club's Match Preview and Game Notes Ahead of Road Match against NorCal Rival Bay FC

June 21, 2024 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


SAN JOSE - Tomorrow, June 22, at 7:00 p.m., Angel City is on the road again, this time in San Jose to face NorCal rival Bay FC. The match will be broadcast in the US on ION and internationally on NWSL+. An English-language radio broadcast will be available on iHeart.

Matchup

Angel City's last game was a 3-2 win at home against Racing Louisville FC. Midfielder Kennedy Fuller notched the opener off an assist by defender Madison Curry in the 17th minute, with midfielder Rocky Rodríguez doubling the lead in the 32nd. Louisville midfielder Taylor Flint put away a penalty kick shortly before the break, with defender Carson Pickett equalizing in the 64th minute. ACFC stayed in the game, regaining the lead in the 85th minute with a goal by Sydney Leroux, assisted by forward Alyssa Thompson.

The goals represented a handful of milestones: Fuller's first professional goal, Curry's first professional assist, Rodríguez's first Angel City goal, and Leroux's 45th NWSL goal- which puts her in a ninth-place tie with Kansas City's Debinha for most career regular-season goals all-time.

Bay FC's last result was a 0-1 loss at home to the Utah Royals. Both teams held the game scoreless until the 89th minute, when the Royals notched the game-winner.

Bay are currently in 12th place with a 4-9-0 (W-L-D) record. Following Wednesday's win, Angel City moved into ninth place- tied on points with seventh-place Louisville- with a 4-6-3 record.

As Bay FC is a new expansion club this season, the two teams have played only one game against each other: a 0-1 ACFC loss at BMO, both teams' season opener.

Scouting Report

That 0-1 loss in March came on the strength of a 17th-minute strike by forward Asisat Oshoala, a top goalscorer in global football and a star for the Nigeria women's national team.

Since the opener, however, Bay has seen scoring contributions from many different players, with six co-leading scorers- Oshoala; forwards Tess Boade and Racheal Kundananji; midfielders Deyna Castellanos and Joelle Anderson; and defender Kayla Sharples- all with two goals on the season.

Kundananji, a Zambian international, was unavailable in the opener but has since become a key piece for the club, recording an assist in addition to her two goals in 838 minutes across 10 games.

Boade, who notched the assist on Oshoala's goal in the season opener, was another major threat in that game, earning the single best chance of the day, beating the Angel City defense to fire off a .52-xG shot from inside the box, which keeper Angelina Anderson came off her line to block.

Though she has yet to record another assist, Boade's playmaking ability from the midfield shouldn't be overlooked, as she has 18 chances created in her 13 appearances.

Round Two

Other than the scoreline, Angel City dominated the stat sheet in these two teams' first meeting, totaling 21 shots to Bay's eight, of which 11 were on target and 14 from inside the box, meaning Bay needed an outstanding performance from keeper Lysiane Proulx to keep the clean sheet.

Angel City controlled the ball for the majority of the game, maintaining possession 59% of the time, and that possession wasn't fluff- they recorded 47 touches inside the box compared with just 12 by the Bay.

That's all good evidence to suggest Angel City were unlucky not to score in the opener, and Bay's season since then has borne that out. Though their multi-pronged offense is middle of the pack league wide, Bay has struggled on defense, currently tied with Seattle for last place in that category with 25 goals conceded.

And with Angel City recording a season-high three goals on Wednesday against Louisville- from three different scorers, no less- the team looks well positioned to take another swing at their rivals to the north.

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