Angel City beat OL Reign 2–1 tonight on the strength of goals by forward Clarisse Le Bihan and midfielder Madison Hammond. Reign forward Megan Rapinoe notched the single goal for the opposition. The game was a long-awaited homecoming—the team's first regular-season game at BMO since early July.
'We needed those three points and especially against a team like Reign, who is a high pressing team, a good possession team,' said defender M.A. Vignola after the game. 'Those are points that we definitely needed. There's nothing like the atmosphere at BMO. You've got the crowd that keeps us alive, and I think we really fed off that energy tonight.'
Reign dominated the first few minutes of the game, keeping the lion's share of possession over the first ten minutes; the momentum started to shift in the eighth minute, when Angel City made their first attempt on goal.
Building on that momentum, the hosts opened the scoring in the 13th minute. The play started with midfielder Madison Hammond sending a long diagonal ball into the path of forward Scarlett Camberos as she made a run up the right wing. Reign keeper Claudia Dickey came off her line to try to clear the ball, but when she caught up with Camberos near the 18-yard line, the forward took a touch to beat her and sprinted into the penalty area. With her next touch, she sent a square cross into the six-yard box, where Le Bihan was making a run and hammered her shot into the roof of the net.
'I think one of our strengths is being able to switch the field and use our wingers to attack,' said Vignola of the play. 'We have wingers with probably the most pace in the league, so if we can find them out wide with space, it's one-on-one, we'll take that any day.'
In the 24th minute, keeper DiDi Haračić made a big save. Reign forward Jordyn Huitema received a long ball near the halfway line and sprinted up the right wing into space; beating her mark, she took a low shot from the edge of the area, which Haračić dove right to collect.
The home team had another attempt in the 29th minute when they worked the ball up the right wing with a quick sequence of passes that started with defender Sarah Gorden passing to midfielder Savannah McCaskill, who passed to defender Ali Riley, who found Le Bihan in the pocket with a diagonal ball. Le Bihan put her shot on target, but Dickey saved it.
Seattle regained some momentum in the last 10 minutes of the half, but Angel City defended well and kept their opponents from putting any more shots on frame.
LA doubled their lead in the 57th minute after being awarded a free kick from 30 yards out. Le Bihan sent her service into the six-yard box, where Hammond broke free of her mark and hit a volley on target. Dickey dove and got a piece of the shot but couldn’t keep hold of it, and the ball hit the net to double Angel City’s lead.
Reign pulled one back in the 74th minute after forward Bethany Balcer was fouled in the box by Camberos and earned a penalty kick. Forward Megan Rapinoe, who had subbed in at the half, stepped up to the spot and sent a low shot to the left, just beating a diving Haračić.
'I thought Pinoe was really effective down the left-hand side,' said defender Ali Riley. 'We’re so expansive [that] when she gets the ball it’s hard to cover her. But DiDi [Haračić], Jasmyne [Spencer], Sarah [Gorden], [M.A. Vignola] put in huge performances.'
Haračić came up big again in the 85th minute when defender Sofia Huerta beat her defender and took a hard diagonal shot that the keeper jumped and got a glove to, tipping it over the bar.
ACFC held on during seven tense minutes of extra time to earn the three points.
'I think the beginning and end of each half is really key for us, and especially when we're up just a goal in the second half with 10 minutes to go,' said Vignola. 'I think our biggest priority needs to be getting the ball down the field and keeping it there and just working on our defensive shape shifting, but I think we did it tonight. We got some defensive blocks that we needed in the last couple of minutes.'
The win was a crucial result to keep LA in the playoff race; heading out of the weekend they team is in ninth place, level with eighth-place Louisville on points. Both Le Bihan's and Hammond's goals were their first for Angel City in the regular season.
The team plays next this Friday, September 1, away at Kansas City at 5:00 p.m. Pacific. The game will stream live on Paramount+.
