Angel City fell 1–2 at home tonight against the North Carolina Courage. Forward Manaka Matsukubo and midfielder Brianna Pinto scored for the Courage, with forward Riley Tiernan notching the single ACFC goal.
North Carolina opened the scoring less than a minute into the game. Forward Manaka Matsukubo received a short pass from midfielder Shinomi Koyama and sprinted toward goal, unleashing a cross as she reached the penalty area. Forward Cortnee Vine made a run into the box and slid to the ground as she struck the ball into the back of the net.
Angel City had a chance to equalize in the seventh minute, when forward Alyssa Thompson took the ball endline, beating several defenders to send it back towards the six-yard line. Forward Riley Tiernan received the pass and turned to shoot, but her attempt was wide.
Two minutes later the hosts had another look when forward Julie Dufour sent a free kick to the top of the 18. Defender Megan Reid got her head on the ball, but sent it wide.
In the 11th minute, ACFC finally broke through. Defender Gisele Thompson did a one-two pass with Dufour to get loose on the right wing before going to the endline and firing a cross into the box. Tiernan didn’t miss a second time, jumping to make contact with her head and sending the ball into the back of the net to level the score.
The Courage had one more look before halftime. A 50th-minute service into the box by midfielder Riley Jackson was incompletely cleared, falling to Matsukubo near the center of the box. The forward put a hard shot on target, but goalkeeper Angelina Anderson saved.
In the 55th minute, Anderson came up with another big stop to keep the score level. Courage forward Tyler Lussi crossed the ball into the area for Vine, who tapped it to an onrushing Matsukubo. Anderson came off her line to cut down the angle, stopping Matsukubo’s close-range shot as she dropped to the ground.
Reid had an attempt in the 71st minute that was similar to her first look—a header off a free kick by Dufour—but this one was on target and had to be stopped by goalkeeper Casey Murphy.
The home team had a pair of near misses in the 82nd minute when midfielder Ashley Sanchez dribbled up the center of the field and shot from inside the box. Anderson blocked the shot, but the ball fell to Matsukubo, who sent it across the face of goal to forward Hannah Betfort. Defender MA Vignola blocked Betfort’s close-range attempt for a corner kick.
North Carolina sealed the win in the 95th minute, with a blocked shot by Lussi landing at the feet of midfielder Brianna Pinto, who made an initial attempt that was also blocked, then put away her follow-up attempt to bring the score to 2–1.
Angel City are on the road next week, facing the Kansas City Current on Friday, June 20 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific. The game will stream live on Prime Video, with a radio broadcast on iHeart.