Angel City drew San Diego Wave FC 1–1 at home tonight in the 2025 season opener, with forward Alyssa Thompson scoring for ACFC and forward Gia Corley getting on the board for the Wave.
San Diego kicked off the scoring early, with forward Delphine Cascarino sprinting up the right wing to beat the Angel City defense and sending a sideways pass into the center of the 18, where forward Gia Corley was making a run. Corley made a sliding one-touch finish to put the ball in the back of the net.
San Diego kept pushing and soon had another chance. In the 10th minute, midfielder Kenza Dali sent a free kick just inside the penalty area, where the ball grazed Cascarino’s head before ricocheting off an Angel City defender. Cascarino waited for the deflected ball to drop and fired a volley toward the far post, where it went just wide.
Angel City picked up some momentum as the game went on, earning their first quality chance in the 19th minute. Forward Alyssa Thompson dribbled up the left wing to the endline, cut left to beat her mark, and served the ball to forward Claire Emslie at the edge of the six. Emslie put her volleyed shot on frame, but goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan did well to save the close-range attempt.
The hosts had another near miss in the 33rd minute when Emslie sent a long ball into the path of Thompson’s run. Thompson dribbled into the box to line up a shot, but Sheridan pounced to force a turnover before she could make an attempt.
In the 42nd minute, Dali found forward Kyra Carusa near the top of the 18 with a long ball from midfield. Carusa tapped a sideways pass to Corley, who took a one-touch attempt that went just wide.
The second half opened with a big save from ACFC goalkeeper Angelina Anderson. In the 48th minute, Cascarino found midfielder María Sánchez at the edge of the six-yard box with a cross; Anderson dove for an impressive stop against Sánchez’s close-range attempt.
Angel City started pushing again and had a chance in the 51st minute, with defender Gisele Thompson making a solo attempt from just outside the penalty arc. Sheridan dove to stop it, but the ball was just wide.
ACFC notched the go-ahead goal in the 54th minute. Midfielder Kennedy Fuller sent a long through ball into Alyssa Thompson’s run up the wing; Thompson cut into the penalty area, beat two defenders, and wrong-footed Sheridan to slot the ball inside the far post.
In the 68th minute, Angel City almost combined for another goal, with defender MA Vignola sprinting onto a pass from Fuller and passing to forward Riley Tiernan in the box. Tiernan found Gisele Thompson playing back to goal in the six-yard box, who found her sister near the 18-yard line, but the elder Thompson’s shot was deflected out.
Angel City had two more big defensive plays. First came a well-timed tackle by defender Sarah Gorden to stop Cascarino from getting one on one against Anderson. Anderson made her own stop in the 81st minute, diving to grab a long-range shot by forward Melanie Barcenas.
Barcenas had another attempt in the 89th minute, again shooting from distance, but Anderson tipped it over the bar to keep the score level.
Angel City plays again this Friday, March 21, at 7:00 p.m. Pacific on the road against Portland Thorns FC. The match will stream on Prime, with a radio broadcast on iHeart. The official watch party will be held at Grand Central Market.
ACFC Player Milestones:
- ACFC rookies Riley Tiernan and Macey Hodge, along with defender Miyabi Moriya and forward Julie Dufour, made their NWSL career debuts in today’s match.
- ACFC forward Alyssa Thompson earned her 10th career NWSL regular-season goal, tying for the most in club history.
- Midfielder Kennedy Fuller earned her first career assist in the 54th minute to help equalize the match.
- Rookie forward Riley Tiernan's appearance brings the total number of sister pairs who’ve both played in NWSL to eight (Madison Tiernan played for Sky Blue FC, now NJ/NY Gotham FC, from 2017–2020).
- Defender Savy King and midfielder Alanna Kennedy made their ACFC debuts in today’s match.
- Team captain and defender Sarah Gorden is now at 9,923 NWSL regular Season career minutes after tonight’s match. She is now 77 minutes shy of reaching the 10,000 minutes played milestone.
- Defender Miyabi Moriya is the third Japanese national to debut this opening weekend along with Manaka Hayashi (CHI) on Friday and then Shinomi Koyoma (NC) last night.
