Angel City FC opens second season at home

Angel City Football Club's second season will kick off March 26 at what is now known as BMO Stadium.

ACFC will host NJ/NY Gotham FC (6 p.m.) in the first of 14 home games this season.

The National Women's Soccer League released the 2023 schedule Wednesday. The new-look season will get underway March 25. What's new?

For the first time, the NWSL has moved the Challenge Cup, usually a preseason tournament, inside the regular-season calendar. The league's 12 teams will be grouped in three pools of four teams (Angel City will be grouped with OL Reign,

San Diego Wave FC and the Portland Thorns).

Challenge Cup games will be played between April and September. The winners of each pool will advance to the semifinals Sept. 6, with the final Sept. 9.

Pool play will consist of each team playing a homeand-away against its group opponents for a total of six games, giving teams a total of 28 games for the season.

Of those 28 games, each team will play 14 at home and 14 on the road. Angel City averaged nearly 20,000 fans for last season's home schedule, selling out four games.

Angel City's first Challenge Cup game is April 19 at home against OL Reign.

Also new: the anticipated debut of Alyssa Thompson, the Harvard-Westlake High senior and youngest to ever play for the US women's national team, for whom Angel City traded up to select with the top overall pick in January's NWSL draft.

The regular-season schedule doesn't have any midweek games, which according to the league is designed to “minimize schedule congestion for player safety and optimal performance.”

Angel City will play five games in April. The busiest month is May when the club will play six games (four regular season and two Challenge Cup).

Angel City will face its Southern California rival Wave FC four times. Twice in the regular season (April 23 at home, June 17 on the road) and twice in the Challenge Cup (June 28 at home, Aug. 5 on the road).

The teams played in front of sellout crowd of 32,000 at Wave FC's home debut at Snapdragon Stadium in September.

The regular season ends Oct. 15, with all of the games scheduled for a 2 p.m. PT start time, similar to how Major League Soccer handles its final day the season. In MLS, the Eastern Conference games are at the same time in the morning, followed by the Western Conference in the afternoon.

Another scheduling aspect to watch is how the FIFA Women's World Cup affect teams. The tournament is set to run July 20 to Aug. 20. During that stretch, Angel City has three games.