Angel City played to a nil-nil draw with the Houston Dash at home tonight in a back-and-forth, at times physical match.
'I’m really pleased with our defensive performance,' said Head Coach Freya Coombe after the game. 'I think it was more important for us to try and get a clean sheet again, since it’s been a couple of games with us not being able to achieve that. The missing piece for us now is being able to improve movement in the front line, and also being able to create chances.'
The first half got off to a slow start, with Houston controlling the ball much of the time thanks to their aggressive press, but failing to get many looks on goal due to strong defending by the home team. Around the 20th minute, Angel City started to put together longer stretches of possession and push the momentum the other direction, getting more chances and half-chances as time went on.
In the 30th minute, midfielder Savannah McCaskill came close with a shot from the top of the 18. After a quick one-two with forward Christen Press, she got into a window of space and fired off a powerful strike, but it went over the crossbar.
Houston answered three minutes later when a deflected cross by defender Elizabeth Eddy fell to midfielder Sophie Schmidt just outside the penalty area. She put a decisive shot on frame, which keeper DiDi Haračić made a beautiful diving save and narrowly blocked the ball out over the end line.
Angel City continued to push for goal, with defender Vanessa Gilles pulling a close-range left-footed shot wide in the 37th minute, but the best chance of the remainder of the half was for Houston in added time. After a free kick by midfielder María Sánchez was incompletely cleared from the box, Eddy sent the ball back into the mixer, where forward Nichelle Prince headed the ball over the crossbar from point-blank range.
As the second half began, the home side looked to have the Dash’s aggressive press all but solved, managing to break through it and make attacks into the spaces left behind.
'I think what was not working,' said defender Ali Riley, 'was short passes, keeping the ball in our defensive third against a team that presses well and very aggressively... I think we had to release the pressure by getting the ball over that [Houston] front line, and from there we can play.'
In the 61st minute, Press charged into an open pocket to the left of the penalty area and crossed the ball toward McCaskill and forward Simone Charley as they crashed the box. McCaskill got her head on the ball at close range but sent it high.
The game continued to heat up, with LA continuing to exploit the space and create opportunities—but Houston also got a few attacks in transition. As they have been in past games, corner kicks were a strong facet of Angel City's offense. 'The service on the corners was really good and dangerous tonight,' said Riley. 'Everyone out there wants to score. It feels like it's inches right now.'
After a half-dozen forays into the box, Angel City had their best chance of the game in the 69th minute: after driving up the center of the field, McCaskill found midfielder Clarisse Le Bihan with a diagonal pass to the right. Le Bihan did well to turn her mark and find forward Jun Endo making a run, and Endo put a shot on frame from the penalty arc. Houston keeper Jane Campbell made an eye-popping block, and when Press picked up the deflected ball and put another one on target, Campbell came up big with a second save.
The pace of the game slowed over the last 20 minutes; the last real chance for either side was a shot in the 80th minute by Houston midfielder Shea Groom that hit the crossbar.
Angel City has one more game in this condensed week as they go the road against Louisville this Saturday, June 11, at 5:00 p.m. PST.
'I think our run of games right now are a little tough,' said Coombe. 'We went away to Portland, flew back, and then didn’t have any time to really train before tonight’s game... We are going to deal with the same thing going to Louisville, with very limited training time before we travel. I think we’re aware of what we need to do in that final third to try and get that goal.'
Saturday's match will stream live on Twitch, with an audio broadcast on iHeart.