Friday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. Pacific, Angel City Football Club is back at home against the Utah Royals. The game will stream live on NWSL+ and Paramount+, with radio broadcasts on iHeart and KFWB in English and Spanish, respectively. You can buy tickets here.
Angel City’s last game was a 4–3 win on the road at Washington. Forward Riley Tiernan opened the scoring in the eighth minute, with defender Gisele Thompson doubling the lead not long after. Goals by defender Esme Morgan and forward Gift Monday leveled the score before the break. ACFC defender Katie Zelem reclaimed the lead in the 72nd minute, with Washington equalizing again shortly before the end of regulation. Tiernan completed a brace late in stoppage time to clinch the win.
That was the second consecutive game scoring for both Zelem and Tiernan; it was also Tiernan’s first game-winner and first brace. Thompson’s goal, assisted by her sister Alyssa, was the first sister-to-sister goal in NWSL history.
Utah lost 0–2 at home last week to the North Carolina Courage.
ACFC last faced the Royals on October 20, 2024, tying 1–1. They are 1–0–1 (W–L–D) all-time against Utah, who joined the league last season.
LA are currently in eighth place with a 3–2–2 record. Utah are in 13th at 1–5–1.
A rocky first year back in the league (the Royals initially joined the NWSL in 2018, ceased operations in 2020, and were resurrected by Real Salt Lake ownership before the 2024 season) saw Utah go 2–11–2 (W–L–D) to start the season before parting ways with Head Coach Amy Rodriguez. Assistant Coach Jimmy Coenraets stepped in as interim, ultimately leading the team to a 5–4–2 record in the last 11 games of 2024.
Coenraets had a busy offseason, bringing in a mix of established NWSL and international players and young talent from the US and abroad.
Defenders Tatumn Milazzo and Alex Loera came to Utah from Chicago and Bay FC, respectively. On the other end of the pitch, the team brought in Aisha Solórzano from Tijuana in Liga MX Femenil, a forward who scored 16 goals in her 16 appearances with the team; they also tapped KK Ream, a 15-year-old attacker who spent time in Real Salt Lake’s academy system while she lived in Arizona and who, in 2025, helped the US to a U-15 CONCACAF championship win.
Unfortunately for Utah, neither the coaching change nor the new signings have turned their fortunes around yet, as the club has earned just one win in 2025 on the back of four total goals.
But underestimating any team is dangerous, as last weekend’s results show: the top two teams, Kansas City and Orlando, both fell to mid-table competition, while last-place Chicago stole a point on the road from fourth-place Gotham.
Angel City’s four goals last week were the second-most the team has ever scored in a single game, after their 5–1 win against Portland on October 15, 2023. In addition, Riley Tiernan’s eighth-minute opener made Angel City the first team to ever score in the first 15 minutes of four consecutive road matches. Tiernan scored in the ninth minute the week before in Orlando, with midfielders Kennedy Fuller and Macey Hodge recording the first two goals of the streak against Portland and Houston, respectively.
LA’s 13 goals in the first seven games of the season are a club record, and put the team among the best in the league, with just three teams—top-three Kansas City, Orlando, and San Diego—having scored more, with 14 each.
For five of those goals, Angel City has Tiernan to thank; not only does she lead all rookies in scoring, but she’s currently in second place in the Golden Boot race, with only Gotham veteran Esther ahead of her. Forward Alyssa Thompson is tied for sixth in that category, with three. Only one team, Kansas City, has more players with at least three goals each (though Orlando also has two).
When it comes to assists, ACFC also leads the way, with Fuller’s three on the season tied with San Diego’s Delphine Cascarino for first place. Gisele and Alyssa Thompson are both tied for second with a handful of other players.