Sunday, March 16, at 3:50 p.m., Angel City kicks off the 2025 season at home against San Diego Wave FC. The match will be broadcast on ESPN2, with radio broadcasts on iHeart (English) and KFWB La Mera Mera (Spanish).
For the second year in a row, Angel City opens the season against a California rival, as the club kicked off 2024 with a 1–0 loss against expansion side Bay FC. The LA-San Diego rivalry, by contrast, dates to 2022, the inaugural season for both clubs.
Against the Wave in 2024, Angel City recorded a 0–0 draw at home in May and a 2–1 win on the road in August, with forward Alyssa Thompson notching a brace and San Diego defender Abby Dahlkemper scoring a consolation goal in stoppage time.
ACFC’s record against their rivals to the south is 3–2–1 (W–L–D) all-time.
2024 was a disappointing season for both Southern California teams, with the Wave finishing in 10th with a 6–13–7 record and Angel City landing in 12th at 7–13–6 (Angel City were docked three points for an off-the-field matter).
Given their worst-ever finish in 2024, it’s no surprise that San Diego have laid the foundations for a rebuild in 2025. After parting ways with Head Coach Casey Stoney midway through 2024, this offseason, the club brought in former Arsenal coach Jonas Eidevall, who has made a number of major roster moves.
Those changes have included a number of significant departures, starting with the retirement of Alex Morgan late last season. In the offseason, the club waived internationals Emily Van Egmond and Sofia Jakobsson; traded away Christen Westphal, the team’s all-time leader in appearances, as well as star midfielder Jaedyn Shaw; and lost defender Naomi Girma to Chelsea.
The new players Eidevall has brought in to fill those absences include a mix of American rookies and both veteran and young internationals.
Forward Trinity Byars and defenders Quincy McMahon and Trinity Armstrong all joined the club out of college—the University of Texas, UCLA, and University of North Carolina, respectively.
Midfielders Gia Corley, Kenza Dali, and Favour Emmanuel (from Germany, France, and Nigeria, respectively), and forwards Chiamaka Okwuchukwu and Adriana Leon (Nigeria and Canada, respectively) fill out the front six; significantly for Angel City fans, goalkeeper DiDi Haračić, who called LA home for the club’s first three seasons, went to San Diego on free agency this offseason.
Angel City has had a big offseason, both reshaping the roster and reaching a new level of professionalism, moving to a state-of-the-art performance center and adding Sporting Director Mark Parsons to lead the soccer side of the club.
With an eye toward building for the long term, the club has added a number of promising young players to a roster that already included Alyssa and Gisele Thompson, Kennedy Fuller, and Casey Phair.
Defender Savy King was a standout for Bay FC in their inaugural season, who selected her second overall in the 2024 Draft after she played one season at UNC.
Midfielder Macey Hodge, out of Mississippi State, was ACFC’s first-ever rookie signing in the post-draft era. A first-team All-American, she helped lead the Bulldogs to their best-ever finish in the NCAA tournament in 2024, making it to the third round.
Forward Julie Dufour, a French international, is something of a rarity in the NWSL: a young European player who chose to come to the States early in her professional career. That has often been seen as a risky move for Europeans, whose federations typically want to see them playing domestically. For Dufour, who has eight caps with the senior French national team, it’s a choice that speaks to her desire to grow as a player and to ACFC’s status as a top destination for talented young players to develop.
Finally, three trialists—defender Hannah Johnson, forward Riley Tiernan, and goalkeeper Bre Norris—earned contracts during preseason.
Defenders Alanna Kennedy and Miyabi Moriya, from Australia and Japan, respectively—alongside players like Sydney Leroux, Sarah Gorden, and Christen Press—will provide perspective as veteran professionals in an otherwise young group.