Angel City are on the road Sunday, September 11, at 4:00 p.m. PST against the Houston Dash. The match will be broadcast locally on Bally Sports SoCal and stream live on Paramount+. An English-language radio broadcast will air on iHeart.
ACFC's last NWSL game was August 28, a 3–1 win on the road against NJ/NY Gotham FC (on September 5, they hosted the Mexico women's national team in the inaugural Copa Angelina). Midfielders Savannah McCaskill and Cari Roccaro and forward Claire Emslie scored in that game; a goal for Gotham by forward Paige Monaghan closed out the scoring.
With less than a month to go in the regular season, Angel City have a 7–5–4 record and are sitting just outside playoff position in seventh place, only two points below sixth-place Chicago with two games in hand. Sunday's match could have major implications for the playoff race, as Houston is currently in third place with 29 points to Angel City's 25. LA also has two games in hand over the Dash.
'I think that both teams are going to be incredibly up for it as they see the importance of this game in the playoff run,' said Head Coach Freya Coombe.
The Dash are 8–5–5, with just one loss in the last five games. Last week they drew Washington 2–2; a first-half goal by midfielder Sophie Schmidt was answered with two quick Washington goals early in the second half. Defender Michelle Alozie, who subbed in for forward Nichelle Prince in the 81st minute, scored a stoppage-time goal on a breakaway to tie up the score.
Sunday will be Angel City's second match against the Dash. The teams first met in June in LA, a contest that ended in a 0–0 draw. Houston have made some changes since that game, including bringing in Juan Carlos Amorós as interim head coach, replacing acting head coach Sarah Lowdon, who returned to her assistant coach position.
'The last game that we played at the Banc was very different affair, I think,' said Coombe. 'Juan wasn't in there at that point yet and it was a little bit of a stalemate. I don't think that that's going to be this game.'
In late June, the Dash acquired forward Ebony Salmon from Racing Louisville. The 21-year-old, who was recently called up to the England senior team, has scored eight goals in her nine games with the Dash, including a hat trick against Chicago in July.
'Their forwards have shown themselves to be very effective,' said Coombe. 'Ebony Salmon... since she's made the move from Louisville to Houston [has shown a willingness to get on the scoresheet. Their frontline is going to want to cause us some issues.'
Sunday will be the first in a three-game road trip for Angel City; they play a midweek game in North Carolina before heading back to Southern California to face San Diego away.
