Angel City beat Washington Spirit on the road tonight in a 4–3 thriller, with goals by defender Gisele Thompson, midfielder Katie Zelem, and a brace by forward Riley Tiernan. Forward Gift Monday and defender Esme Morgan scored for the Spirit.
Angel City opened the scoring in the 8th minute with a goal by Tiernan, her fourth of the season. The play started with forward Alyssa Thompson playing a well-weighted through ball to defender MA Vignola as she made a run into the 18. Vignola took the ball to the endline before sending a diagonal ball toward the center of the box, where Tiernan was making a run and one-timed a low shot into the back of the net.
The visitors doubled their lead in the 22nd minute when midfielder Alanna Kennedy sent a long ball over the top to Thompson on the left. Thompson crossed the ball into the six-yard box, where defender Gisele Thompson jumped to make contact and volleyed the ball past goalkeeper Sandy MacIver from close range.
Washington pulled one back in the 30th minute, with midfielder Gabby Carle sending a long ball over the top. Forward Ashley Hatch flicked a header to the corner of the six-yard box, where defender Esme Morgan caught up to the ball and finished with an angled shot that landed inside the far post.
The Spirit equalized ten minutes later when forward Rosemonde Kouassi pounced on a miscleared ball and knocked it over the top for forward Gift Monday as she was making a run. The Nigerian international volleyed the ball into the net to bring the score to 2–2 in the 40th minute.
ACFC started pushing for goal early in the second half, with Alyssa Thompson cutting past her defender and putting a shot on frame in the 50th minute, but MacIver saved. MacIver was called on again in the 63rd minute as forward Claire Emslie curled a free kick over the wall toward the upper 90, which the Spirit keeper dove to swat away for a corner kick.
In the 72nd minute, Angel City regained their lead. Gisele Thompson and midfielder Katie Zelem exchanged a pair of one-two passes on the right edge of the 18, with Zelem then creating space between herself and a defender and sending a right-footed shot into the back of the net to bring the score to 3–2.
Washington again equalized in the 89th minute when Carle sent a long ball over the top to forward Brittany Ratcliffe, who headed it back across the back line. The ball deflected off an Angel City defender and fell to Morgan, who got a foot on it for a scrappy goal.
But ACFC wasn’t ready to call it quits, and in the eighth minute of stoppage time, Tiernan scored a second to secure the win. Forward Christen Press headed a corner kick by Emslie down towards the mouth of goal, where Tiernan was lurking and nailed a one-touch shot into the top netting.
Angel City is back at home next week, taking on the Utah Royals on Friday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available here.
ACFC Milestones
- Defender Gisele Thompson scored her first career NWSL regular-season goal in the 22’ and her third career NWSL regular-season assist. Her goal was assisted by her sister, forward Alyssa Thompson (11th career), making it the first sister-to-sister goal in NWSL history.
- Rookie forward Riley Tiernan scored her fourth career NWSL regular-season goal in the 8’ of the match. She then hit the game-winning goal in the 90+8’ of the match. She has scored five goals in the last five matches for the club.
- Defender M.A. Vignola earned her fourth career NWSL regular-season assist in tonight’s match.
- Forward Julie Dufour made her first career NWSL regular-season start in tonight’s match.
- Second most-goals scored in a match in Angel City club history. Most scored was five against Portland on 2023 Decision Day.
- Angel City is the first club in NWSL history to score a goal in the first 15 minutes of a match in four consecutive road games.
Lineups and Subs
LA Starting XI: Anderson, Angelina; Gorden, Sarah; King, Savy; Vignola, M.A.; Thompson, Gisele; Kennedy, Alanna; Fuller, Kennedy; Zelem, Katie; Dufour, Julie; Thompson, Alyssa; Tiernan, Riley
Subs: Emslie, Claire; Hammond, Madison; Miyabi; Press, Christen; Reid, Megan
DNP: Stambaugh, Hannah; Nabet, Lily; Niehues, Maiara; Phair, Casey; Reid, Megan
WAS Starting XI: MacIver, Sandy; Bernal, Rebeca; McKeown, Tara; Carle, Gabby; Morgan, Esme; Miura, Narumi; Stainbrook, Heather; Hatch, Ashley; Morris, Makenna; Kouassi, Rosemonde; Monday, Gift
Subs: Bethune, Croix; Ratcliffe, Brittany; Ricketts, Chloe
DNP: Kingsbury, Aubrey; Boade, Meg; Brown, Courtney; Dulaney, Kiley; Sylla, Kysha
