This Saturday, June 17, at 1:00 p.m. PST, Angel City travels to San Diego for their second meeting this season with the Wave. The game will be broadcast over the air on CBS and will stream internationally at NWSLSoccer.com. An English-language radio broadcast will be available at iHeart.
For more information on broadcasts, click here.
This will be Angel City's sixth meeting all-time with San Diego across all competitions, and their second this season. The first match, on April 23, was a 0–2 loss at home following goals by forwards Sofia Jakobsson and Makenzy Doniak. ACFC's all-time, all-competition record against San Diego is 1–3–1 (W–L–D).
San Diego are currently tied with Washington at the top of the table with a 6–3–2 record. Their last result was a 0–0 draw against Louisville on the road.
Angel City are in 11th place with a 2–6–3 record. Their last match was a 1–2 loss away at Washington, which saw defender M.A. Vignola score her first Angel City goal in first-half stoppage time to answer first-half goals by forwards Ashley Hatch and Ashley Sanchez.
San Diego's headliners are their USWNT players, forward Alex Morgan and defender Naomi Girma. Morgan leads the team in scoring, with five goals and two assists. However, another player to watch is Swedish national team star Sofia Jakobsson.
The 33-year-old, a silver medal winner at the 2016 Olympics, is a longtime staple for Sweden who was recently named to that country's roster for the 2023 World Cup. For the Wave, she's a major threat from wide areas of the field, as she demonstrated with her goal against Angel City in April. Running onto a ball from right back Christen Westphal—who had cut inside somewhat to pinch ACFC's defense—Jakobsson exploited the available space on the right to get into the box, cut the ball to her left foot, and put a decisive shot past keeper DiDi Haračić.
Jakobsson also looks to set other players up from the wings, and she currently leads her team in crosses attempted, with 30.
Above all, however, the Wave are a defensively strong team, with just 11 goals conceded on the season, and they are tied with North Carolina for most clean sheets, with five. They are a low-possession team, preferring to maintain an organized defensive block while out of possession and capitalize on fast transition plays to score.
With Interim Head Coach Becki Tweed leading the team, the group says they're taking things one game at a time. 'We are just all focused on the work to win games,' said midfielder Clarisse Le Bihan this week at training. 'We have to focus on the derby this weekend and just win some points.'
Le Bihan says the team is optimistic that they can turn around their losing streak and continue competing this season. Halfway through the year, there's still plenty of time to bounce back. 'We just need a win—three point and like a good game. We are all still believing. We want to keep up the standard in training and in games. We're not focused on the standings for the moment, but more on what we're able to do in each game and the reaction we want to show people.'
That said, Angel City's rivalry game against the Wave is always a big moment.
'We are really excited to play this game,' says Le Bihan. 'It's not going to be easy, but it's a good opportunity for us to flip a switch. It will be a big crowd. I think it's going to be a good opportunity for us to show that we are still here and we are going to fight.'