Angel City Football Club (ACFC) will take on Northern California rival Bay FC at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., this Saturday at 5:45 p.m in the first away match of the 2026 NWSL season. The game will be televised on ION.
Last Time Out: Fuller, Borges Spark 4-0 Victory over Chicago
Angel City FC started the season with a flourish last Sunday, defeating Chicago Stars FC 4-0 at BMO Stadium. Midfielders Kennedy Fuller and Ary Borges both tallied a goal and an assist, with Borges setting up Fuller’s score in the 33rd minute before netting the third goal of the game in the 66th minute. Defender Evelyn Shores and midfielder Maiara Niehues also scored, while forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir registered her first assist of the season. Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson was highly effective and kept a clean sheet.
Plenty of new faces graced the ACFC lineup in Sunday’s match. Borges and defender Emily Sams got their first starts for the club, while forward Taylor Suarez and midfielder Carina Lageyre both made their NWSL debuts in the second half. Defender Savy King also returned to regular season action for the first time since May 2025, making continued progress in her recovery from a cardiac incident. Head Coach Alex Straus, who joined the team last June from FC Bayern Women, won his first-ever Angel City home opener.
The 4-0 win marked the most goals scored in a home opener as well as the first-ever clean sheet. The score also tied for the largest goal differential in club history, matching the 5-1 victory over the Portland Thorns in 2023.
Next Up: Hutton and Bay FC
Bay FC won its season opener, 2-1, against expansion franchise Denver Summit FC last Saturday. Forward Alex Pfeiffer and defender Joelle Anderson scored for the club, while new head coach Emma Coates picked up her first NWSL victory. Coates previously coached England’s U-23 National Team.
New in Bay FC’s attack this year is midfielder Claire Hutton, who joined the club from the Kansas City Current in February. In 2025, Hutton won the NWSL Shield with Kansas City and was named to the NWSL Best XI First Team. The midfielder has also made 15 appearances for the U.S. Women’s National Team, tallying a goal and an assist in that capacity. Hutton and Pfeiffer join ever-dangerous forward Racheal Kundananji in looking to reinvigorate an offense that scored a league-worst 26 goals last season.
Angel City has faced Bay FC four times in two seasons, with a 1-3-0 record overall.
In the Spotlight: Gorden to Set Appearance Mark
Saturday’s match will be Angel City captain and defender Sarah Gorden’s 73rd game, which will set the all-time record for games played by an ACFC player. Gorden is also expected to pass teammate Claire Emslie with her 42nd consecutive game played.
The consistency comes as no surprise for Gorden, who became Chicago’s first Iron Woman in 2021, playing every single minute for the Stars that season. The defender, who hails from Chicago, was acquired by Angel City in a trade in December 2021 and has been a mainstay in the ACFC lineup. In 2025, Gorden set a single-season club record with 2,275 minutes played.
