This Sunday, April 2, at 2:30 p.m. Pacific, Angel City has their first road match of 2023 against the Orlando Pride. The game will stream live in the US on Paramount+ and internationally at NWSLSoccer.com.
Matchup
Angel City has played Orlando twice before, registering a 0–1 loss at home and a 2–2 draw on the road.
The home loss, which was ACFC's second game of the 2022 season, saw forward Sydney Leroux—who now plays for LA—get on the scoreboard in the third minute. In Florida, defender Ali Riley and midfielder Cari Roccaro scored for Angel City.
In 2023, both teams are 0–1–0 (W–L–D) following losses in Week 1. Angel City fell 1–2 to Gotham at home, while the Pride were shut out 0–4 on the road against the reigning NWSL champion Portland Thorns.
Scouting Report
The Pride have undergone some important roster changes in the offseason. In the 2023 draft, they acquired defender Emily Madril out of Florida State with the No. 3 overall pick, selecting forward Messiah Bright from Texas Christian University in the second round.
Madril was an NCAA champion with FSU in 2021, her senior year; after opting out of her final year of college eligibility shortly before the season started, she made the unprecedented move of signing a contract with the NWSL itself in order to allow her playing rights to be distributed in the 2023 draft. The league then loaned her to the Swedish club BK Häcken for the remainder of the 2022 season.
Bright, the all-time scoring leader for the Horned Frogs, is a player to watch, according to Angel City Assistant Coach Eleri Earnshaw. 'She didn't look like a rookie,' said Earnshaw of Bright's performance last weekend. 'She has multiple threats: she can threaten in behind with her speed. She's really good checking in off the line with her back to goal. She's an obvious target on any ball into the box, any set piece. She's definitely someone we've got to be very mindful of.'
Another change for the Pride this year is the return of Marta following an ACL tear that sidelined her for the 2022 season. Marta, one of the all-time greats in the women's game, holds the international goal scoring record for Brazil—for any gender—with 115 goals, including 17 World Cup goals scored over five iterations of the tournament. At age 37, she's still a major threat for her club since 2017.
'We likened her to Rumplestiltskin this morning,' said Earnshaw. 'She can turn straw into gold—anywhere within 30 or 40 yards of gold, she can create something from nothing.'
Lessons Learned
Although Angel City dropped the result in their home opener, Earnshaw said there were plenty of positives to be taken from the game. 'I think in the first 30 minutes, we were absolutely dominant, in terms of our movement and speed of play,' she said. 'They couldn't figure it out. They couldn't get out of their own half.'
Angel City significantly out-possessed and out-passed Gotham, tallying 57% possession and 356 completed passes, compared with Gotham's 254.
Earnshaw said the two VAR decisions that went against ACFC—the spectacular first-half Jun Endo goal that was disallowed and the penalty awarded early in the second half against the home team—took the wind out of the team's sails.
'Any kind of lull in the game, we've got to get back into the game with the energy that we had originally,' she said. 'It deflated us, and we can't let that happen. So we've got to be mentally tougher in that regard.'
Another New Addition
Angel City announced an exciting new signing this week in Scarlett Camberos, a San Diego native, UC Irvine graduate, and Mexico international. Camberos previous played for Club América, where she led the team in scoring in 2022 with 11 goals in 16 appearances. She also scored in Mexico's 2–0 victory over ACFC in last year's Copa Angelina.
'I'm super excited to travel with the team,' said Camberos. 'Obviously everyone will want the first win of the season and I'm just excited to be there and actually be on the roster.'
Camberos is another addition to a dynamic group of forwards that also includes Alyssa Thompson, Claire Emslie, Jun Endo, and Simone Charley—not to mention Sydney Leroux and Christen Press, who are both recovering from injury.
'What [our group of forwards] allows us to do in the game is refresh that front line without drop-off,' said Earnshaw. 'It's frightening for other teams.'
The addition of Camberos also elevates the level in training, both for the rest of the attack and for the defense. 'She was just chomping at the bit to get into team training,' said Earnshaw, 'and she's fit in really well. Hopefully she can get some minutes this weekend.'
