Angel City travels to face Racing Louisville FC at 3:30 p.m. PT on Saturday, Sept. 5, at Lynn Family Stadium. The match will be televised on ION.
Last Time Out: Angel City’s Five-Star Performance
Angel City FC earned a 5-2 victory over Boston Legacy FC, extending its new single-season club record to 32 goals.
Ally Sentnor opened up the scoring early, finding the back of the net in the fifth minute for her second goal of the season with Angel City.
“With Ally, there is no doubt she will be a very, very good player,” Interim Head Coach Leif Smerud said. “She will score goals and she will create… the way she moves, the way she finds positions, the way she deals with the ball. Ally’s still very young and can develop and build, but she's more than ready to take the next step.”
Prisca Chilufya added goals in the 14th and 58th minutes, recording the first brace of her NWSL career. The performance brought her season total to four goals.
Sveindís Jónsdóttir also made an immediate impact in her return to the starting lineup after missing three matches due to injury. The forward scored from a tight angle inside the box in the 8th minute, marking her seventh goal on the season.
Maiara Niehues rounded out Angel City’s five-goal performance.
With goals from Sentnor, Chilufya, and Niehues coming from outside the box, ACFC became the first team in NWSL history to have three different players score a goal from outside the penalty area in a single regular-season match.
“This was a big game for us,” Smerud said. “We wanted to build on what we have been doing well…we wanted to attack the backline. We knew we could hurt them with Sveindís and Prisca, and we managed to do that. It was dominant.”
Angel City earned three points with their road win over Boston and currently sits ninth in the NWSL standings.
Next Up: Seeking Revenge in Louisville
Angel City and Racing Louisville meet for the second time this season after Louisville came away with a 2-1 victory on July 26 at BMO Stadium. Forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir scored Angel City’s lone goal, while Louisville's Maja Lardner recorded a brace.
Louisville currently sits in 13th in the NWSL standings with a recent 3-2 loss against San Diego Wave FC on Aug. 29.
Angel City looks to even the series at Lynn Family Stadium building upon their offensive momentum from their performance in Boston.
Louisville has recorded 15 goals throughout August, but Racing’s defensive struggles could provide an opportunity for ACFC to capitalize on its scoring chances. Louisville enters the match still searching for its first clean sheet of the season.
With Racing finding success in front of the goal throughout August, Angel City’s defense will face another important test as it looks to contain Louisville's attack on the road.
In the Spotlight: Maiara Makes Her Mark
Maiara Niehues entered in the 62nd minute against Boston Legacy FC and scored just four minutes later, finding the back of the net in the 66th minute to give ACFC its fifth goal of the night. The midfielder was making her first appearance since July 26.
“[Maiara] is also a good scorer, so it's good to get people back,” Smerud said. “In this season we've had a few injuries here and there and they cost us...we want to build upon our development.”
Niehues now has seven goals on the season, tying Jónsdóttir as the team’s leading scorers.