This Saturday, August 19, at 4:30 p.m. PST, Angel City is on the road against Racing Louisville FC. The match will be broadcast locally on Bally SoCal and will stream in the US on Paramount+ and internationally at NWSLSoccer.com. An English-language radio broadcast swill be available on iHeart.
For more information on broadcasts, click here.
The official Angel City watch party will be at Lopez and Lefty's in Anaheim starting at 3:30 p.m.
Matchup
This will be Angel City's fourth meeting all-time with Louisville. Last year the two teams split the results, with ACFC winning 3–2 on the road and losing 1–3 at home; in their first meeting this year, the two teams tied 2–2, with Racing going up 2–0 before halftime, and late goals by forward Katie Johnson and midfielder Savannah McCaskill rescuing the point for the visitors.
Louisville are currently in seventh place in the league with a 4–4–7 (W–L–D) record. Their most recent regular-season result was a 2–1 win at home over Kansas City on July 5 that saw goals by defender Elli Pikkujämsä and forward Paige Monaghan.
Angel City are in tenth place with a 4–6–5 record. Their last league game was a 2–1 win at home against top-ranked North Carolina, featuring a goal by McCaskill and a Courage own goal forced by Angel City forward Elizabeth Eddy. The team is undefeated in the last seven games in all competitions.
Scouting Report
Louisville sent six players to the World Cup, from six different countries: Ary Borges (Brazil), Alex Chidiac (Australia), Savannah DeMelo (USA), Uchenna Kanu (Nigeria), Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa), and Wang Shuang (China).
Chidiac is still at the tournament, as Australia will play for third place early Saturday morning. It's impossible to guess who else will be available this weekend, but Brazil and China both exited the tournament in the group stage, while the US, Nigeria, and South Africa were eliminated in the Round of 16, so it's possible the whole rest of the team's international contingent will suit up.
Midfielder Savannah DeMelo has been Louisville's key player this season, leading the team in goals (five) and co-leading in assists alongside midfielder Lauren Milliet (two). DeMelo was a surprise addition to the USWNT roster, getting her first-ever minutes with the senior team in their opening group-stage match against Vietnam. The Bellflower native was a four-year starter for USC, notching 17 goals in 75 appearances with the Trojans.
The other four eliminated internationals were key for their respective countries. Borges led Brazil with three goals and one assist; Kanu had one of Nigeria's three goals; Kgatlana had two goals and two assists for South Africa; and Shuang scored China's only two goals. In helping lead Banyana Banyana to the knockout rounds for the first time, Kgatlana made history with South Africa.
Back to the Grind
Due to the World Cup, it's been over a month since the last regular-season NWSL game was played. Angel City has played two UKG Challenge Cup games during that time, a home win against Portland and a draw on the road in San Diego. Those results will no doubt help with cohesion and morale as we enter the final stretch of the regular season and a red-hot playoff race.
While ACFC is in tenth place, in terms of points, they're not far out of playoff position, sitting just two points behind seventh-place Louisville and just four behind San Diego in sixth. Depending on the other results this weekend, a win against Louisville could see them leapfrog their opponents and put them just one slot below the line.
Different aspects of the team's schedule over the next seven weeks work both for and against Angel City. The bad news: they still have to play two of the top teams, Portland and Seattle, one more time, although luckily, those are both home games. The good news: they'll also play all three of the teams, including Louisville, standing between them and the playoff line (the other two are Houston and Orlando), which gives the team more control over their own destiny.
Schedule specifics aside, from here on out, every game counts.
