This Saturday, June 10, at 4:00 p.m. PST, Angel City travels to Washington for their second meeting this season with the Spirit. The game will be broadcast locally on Bally Sports SoCal, as well as streaming live in the US on Paramount+ and internationally at NWSLSoccer.com. English- and Spanish-language radio broadcasts will be available at iHeart and KWKW, respectively.
For more information on broadcasts, click here.
This will be Angel City's fourth all-time meeting with the Spirit. In the teams' first meeting this season, LA held Washington scoreless until the 94th minute, when forward Ashley Sanchez put away a penalty kick following an ACFC handball in the box.
Washington are in third place in the league with a 4–1–5 (W–L–D) record. They have earned 1–1 draws in their last two matches, most recently against Racing Louisville last Saturday, June 3. Forward Trinity Rodman scored in the third minute of that game, assisted by Sanchez; the team then conceded a goal early in the second half.
Angel City are in 11th place with a 2–5–3 record following Monday's loss to the Chicago Red Stars. That game ended 2–1 after a first-half brace by Chicago forward Ava Cook and a late goal by ACFC forward Sydney Leroux in her return to the pitch.
Washington is known for their attacking trio—Trinity Rodman, Ashley Hatch, and Ashley Sanchez—for good reason. Those three players dominate the team's attacking stats, with Hatch and Rodman both cracking the top five leaguewide for shots on goal, and Hatch in a five-way tie in the Golden Boot race. Hatch and Rodman have two assists each, with Hatch recording one in each of the last two games.
However, another attacking piece Angel City fans should keep an eye on is midfielder Paige Metayer. A rookie who signed with the team this spring after starting as a non-roster invitee, Metayer is in third place on the Spirit roster behind Hatch and Rodman for chances created with 11, as well as passes into the final third, with 55.
Standing 5'10', Metayer is also an aerial threat. On May 28 against Gotham, the Cal graduate scored a 69th-minute equalizer, heading in a corner kick that Hatch placed on the six-yard line. She's tied with Hatch for second-most aerial duels on the season, having won 19 of those.
Monday's game marked a major milestone for Angel City: the return of forward Sydney Leroux, who has been sidelined with an injury since last July. Entering in the 75th minute, Leroux provided an immediate spark to a team that dominated possession throughout the game but failed to capitalize on their chances, putting just three of their 15 shots on frame.
Less than a minute after entering the game, Leroux ran onto a through ball into the box that Chicago defender Tierna Davidson did well to clear out for a corner kick. She continued to push for goal for the remainder of the game and notched her 40th career NWSL goal in the 88th minute.
That goal was set up in impressive fashion by forward Alyssa Thompson, Angel City's youngest player (Thompson is actually closer in age to Leroux's son Cassius than she is to Leroux herself). Thompson received a short pass up the wing by midfielder Savannah McCaskill and dribbled into the box, beating her mark to place an inside-the-box cross inside the six-yard box. Thompson has been making those runs all season, but has lacked a true No. 9 to connect with—but with Leroux back on the field, she may be able to rack up some more assists going forward.