Angel City drops Cup opener
LOS ANGELES » The bigger and improved Challenge Cup kicked off for Angel City FC Wednesday.
The tournament, which used to be played in the preseason, is now being played throughout the regular season and carries with it a prize pool of $1 million.
Angel City allowed two fluke goals after a scoreless first half and it ended up costing the club in a 2-0 defeat against OL Reign at BMO Stadium.
The first mistake came in the 64th minute as Angel City backup goalkeeper Brittany Isenhour misplayed a ball, slipped as she tried to recover. That was more than enough time for OL Reign's Jordyn Huitema to get to the ball and slot it in for the opening goal.
In the 77th minute, off of a corner, Jess Fishlock's hit was deflected off of Angel City defender Clarisse LeBihan and into the goal for
THE SCORE OL REIGN 2, ANGEL CITY 0
Up next: San Diego Wave at Angel City, Saturday, 5p.m., Paramunt+
a 2-0 lead.
“We feel a little bit sort of unlucky,” Angel City coach Freya Coombe said. “I think in those moments we also need to make sure that we're not putting ourselves in those positions. And we need to be focused, able to move the ball quickly throughout and I think we need to be in control of our own destiny as well.”
Defender Jasmyne Spencer said that the club wants to be stingy on set pieces and will look to work on ways to avoid allowing goals.
Angel City's Challenge Cup opponents are familiar ones. They're in the West Division along with their West Coast rivals OL Reign, San Diego Wave FC and the Portland Thorns. That also means an additional two games against those clubs.
After the first of six rounds, Wave FC is in first place in the West Division thanks to its 1-0 win over the Thorns.
The game went into halftime scoreless. Angel City had the better run of play in the first 45 minutes, leading to eight shots and four on goal, but none of them proved to be really threatening to OL Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey.
Angel City made three substitutions to start the second half, bringing on Megan Reid, Lily Nabet and Katie Johnson, with Paige Nielsen, Dani Weatherholt and Claire Emslie departing. A little past the 60-minute mark, Alyssa Thompson and M.A. Vignola were subbed off for Ali Riley and Savannah McCaskill.
Angel City finished with 14 shots and seven on goal. In her limited time, McCaskill was credited with three chances created.