Angel City drew the Houston Dash 1–1 on the road tonight, following goals by Houston forward María Sánchez and Angel City forward Simone Charley.
Most of the first half saw a back-and-forth battle, with Houston getting more scoring opportunities but Angel City doing well to absorb and limit the Dash to less dangerous opportunities.
“We knew it was going to be a tight game,' said Head Coach Freya Coombe after the game. 'It was important for us to be well-organized defensively, try to force them wide, and be able to get appropriate pressure on them in wide areas—especially trying to nullify Sánchez with her delivery to Ebony Salmon. For the most part, I felt that we dealt with that threat well.'
The home team’s first real chance of the night came in the 29th minute, when midfielder Sophie Schmidt intercepted a pass by keeper DiDi Haračić intended for midfielder Dani Weatherholt. With Haračić out of goal Schmidt pounced and took a shot, which went well high.
The Dash opened the scoring in the 43rd minute. Midfielder Natalie Jacobs received the ball off a short corner kick by midfielder Marisa Viggiano and tapped the ball to forward María Sánchez. Sánchez took a few steps, found herself in space, and fired a hard shot to the far post, past a diving Haračić to bring the score to 1–0.
“There were times when Houston was very good at pressing and also counterpressing,' said Coombe. 'We failed to break that pressure by switching the point of attack. That is something that, in order for us to build a more substantive attack and be able to have more possession higher up the field, it is important for us to find that space on the weak side after a team that is counterpressing.”
The second half was a faster paced, more transitional affair from the beginning, and it didn’t take long for Angel City to pull one back.
In the 49th minute, defender Megan Reid sent a long ball over the top for forward Simone Charley, who had been lurking near the Dash’s defensive line all night. Charley picked up the ball, drove into the box, and beat Houston defender Katie Naughton. Keeper Jane Campbell went to ground to smother the ball, but bobbled it back into Charley’s path. Charley calmly dribbled past Campbell and tapped the ball into the open net to equalize.
'The first half was pretty gritty for us,' said Charley after the game. 'Going into the locker room, we were just trying to encourage each other, and I received a lot of encouragement from my teammates and Freya. It really gave me more energy in the second half, which I appreciated.'
The goal was Charley’s first in the regular season for Angel City.
'Simone has been working incredibly hard in the season and has been doing everything right,' said Coombe. 'Tonight we asked her at halftime to dig really deep and continue to press, and she was rewarded for that effort. Put pressure on, [keep] running through the players, and keep working hard. You often see with strikers that it is the case of getting that one and hopefully that sets her up for the remainder of the season.”
Just a minute after Charley's goal, Houston came close to pulling ahead again when Sánchez placed a low, driven shot to the near post, but Haračić dove and blocked it out for a corner kick. They came close again in the 52nd minute, when Sánchez sent in a cross from the left toward forward Nichelle Prince, who got her head on the ball but sent it wide.
In the 60th minute, Angel City had another quality chance. From the endline, defender Ali Riley found midfielder Savannah McCaskill as she made a run into the area. With Campbell at the near post, she flicked a shot toward the far post with the outside of her right foot, but it bounced wide.
The two teams traded chances for the remainder of the half, with two final near misses by Houston coming late. In the 80th minute, forward Valérie Gauvin, who had subbed on a few minutes prior, one-timed a cross from Prince toward the near post but sent her shot just wide. Then, in stoppage time, midfielder Bri Visalli won the ball, cut inside to drive into the box, and fired off a shot. Defender Paige Nielsen got in front of the ball, which deflected up and over the crossbar.
The match was the 150th NWSL appearance for Angel City defender Jasmyne Spencer, who has played in the league since its inception in 2013.
'Jas’s experience is absolutely massive,' said Coombe. 'She is such a great personality to have on this team. She is really important for us and our group as we come on this journey. Someone that has been in the league as long as she has, she has seen and done it all. To be able to lean on that experience for some of the younger members or players that haven't been in this league before is really important... We are very lucky and proud to have her as a part of Angel City.”
With the draw, Angel City remain in seventh place, one point below the sixth-place Chicago Red Stars. The top six teams make the playoffs.
'As a team, we have the confidence and the ability to make the playoffs,' said Charley. 'For us, it's about being ourselves for the rest of the season. We don't have to be something we're not or anything extra, we literally just have to be ourselves, and we can make the playoffs.'
ACFC play next this Wednesday, September 14, away at North Carolina at 4:00 p.m. PST.