Angel City edged by Reign at home
LOS ANGELES — Angel City FC fell 3-2 at home Saturday night against OL Reign, following first-half goals by ACFC midfielders Cari Roccaro and Savannah McCaskill, and three second-half goals for the Reign by midfielder Jess Fishlock, defender Sofia Huerta and forward Tobin Heath.
“A positive to take from the game is that we’ve scored two goals again, which is really important,” ACFC coach Freya Coombe said. “We went through a patch where there were single goals scored in a game, and for us to get ahead with that good start is something positive to take away.”
“However, it’s simply not good enough to let two goals go and we’ll certainly ask a lot of questions about ourselves and make sure that doesn’t happen again to us this season.”
Angel City opened the scoring in the ninth minute on a well-worked transition play. McCaskill dribbled up the center of the pitch into a space left open by the Reign midfield and sent a ball through to forward Claire Emslie as she made a run up the right. Keeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce saved, but didn’t catch, Emslie’s initial shot. Roccaro was crashing the box and coolly tapped home the rebounded ball, marking her first-ever NWSL goal.
“It was a long time coming,” Roccaro said. “I am so glad I did it in the Banc in front of our amazing fans. That felt really special. I hope I score another one soon.”
The home team notched a second goal in the 28th minute. Forward Sydney Leroux dribbled into the penalty area and was fouled by Reign defender Alana Cook. The center ref blew the whistle and pointed at the spot to indicate a penalty, which McCaskill stepped up to take. She placed her shot to the right, Tullis-Joyce dived left, and the ball landed in the back of the net to bring the score to 2-0.
“In the first half, we were able to move the ball and break the pressure,” Coombe said. “We were also able to take a little bit of risk. Our first and second goal gave us the ability to relieve pressure through their press along with some great balls from Savannah McCaskill.”
The Reign nearly got one back in the 32nd minute when midfielder Jess Fishlock cracked a shot into the crossbar from the top of the 18. The ball fell to forward Jordyn Huitema, who headed the ball on frame — but keeper DiDi Haračić dove left to save.
In the 41st minute, Angel City defender Paige Nielsen narrowly kept the Reign off the board when Huitema took a shot from the top of the sixyard box. Haračić dove too late, but Nielsen was on the goal line and blocked the shot.
Haračić came up big again in stoppage time when OL was awarded a penalty kick following a foul in the box by forward Jun Endo against Fishlock. Midfielder Kim Little stepped up to the spot and sent her kick to the left; Haračić also dove left and stopped the shot, which Endo then cleared out of the box.
Seattle got one back early in the second half, when in the 54th minute, Fishlock played a quick one-two with forward
Tziarra King to get in on goal and send a shot to the far post. The ball hit the inside of the post and bounced back into the net.
Defender Sofia Huerta equalized for the Reign in the 64th minute. A corner kick by Little fell to Haračić but bounced out of her grip. It was cleared out of the box, where Huerta was lurking 20 yards out and sent a hard strike straight to the back of the net.
Fishlock nearly got one back in the 81st minute when Lavelle played a diagonal ball into the box, bypassing the ACFC defense. Fishlock was one-on-one with Haračić and put her shot on frame, but the keeper came up big again to keep the score level.
In the 89th minute, the visitors put away the game-winner. Huerta took the ball to the endline and crossed it to the left side of the six-yard-box, where forward Heath was lurking and tapped the ball past Haračić.
“Our movement stopped in the second half,” Coombe said. “We lost that ability to possess and move the ball. Our spaces that we were looking to defend in the midfield got really large and they were able to find their players in those spaces. That was a big contributing factor as we weren’t able to get compact enough and defend the space.”
Angel City is on the road against Orlando at 4 p.m. next Sunday on Paramount+.