Angel City beat the Portland Thorns 2–1 tonight in a Challenge Cup match, following a brace by midfielder Savannah McCaskill and a goal for the Thorns by forward Morgan Weaver. ACFC goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, making her first professional appearance and first start, had an outstanding game, keeping her team in the game with two crucial late-game saves. The team moved into second place in the West with the result, with one game remaining in the group stage.
'Getting a win at home is always an incredible feeling, in front of our fans. They carried through this game,' said defender Sarah Gorden after the game. 'We had the lead, we lost the lead, and we got it again—there's been two times we gave up late goals in Portland away [on April 29 and May 31], so we were going to fight to the end on this one.'
Angel City opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Gorden found defender Jasmyne Spencer with a long diagonal pass to the right wing. Spencer took a few touches to wait for runners to arrive in the box, then sent a cross into the six-yard box. Midfielder Savannah McCaskill was crashing the net and headed the ball decisively past Thorns keeper Bella Bixby.
The visitors scored an equalizer against the run of play in the 44th minute when Betfort, dribbling up the center of the field, found defender Natalia Kuikka on the right. Kuikka ran forward into the box and sent a lateral pass to forward Morgan Weaver, who took a touch to control the ball, then sent it past goalkeeper Angelina Anderson as she dove in full extension.
ACFC started the second half strong when in the 47th minute, McCaskill curled a gorgeous free kick over the Thorns wall, past a diving Bixby and just inside the far post.
The home team came close in the 62nd minute when defender Paige Nielsen headed a corner kick by midfielder Clarisse Le Bihan on target—but Thorns defender Meghan Klingenberg blocked the shot off the line with a header.
The pace picked up in the last ten minutes of regular time, with the Thorns throwing numbers forward to try to find an equalizer.
In the 83rd minute, Nielsen committed a foul in the box against midfielder Olivia Moultrie, conceding a penalty. Moultrie stepped up to take the kick and sent her shot low and to the left; Anderson dove to the ground to make the save. Anderson made another great save less than a minute later, going to ground to claim a close-range attempt by Moultrie.
'We've all seen her in training the last few months and we could tell that she had something, so it was great to finally get to see her play a game,' said Gorden. 'To see her get out there and in the moment make that PK save is incredible. it's a huge moment for a rookie, and she came through.'
Portland didn’t stop pushing during the ten minutes of stoppage time, but gritty work in Angel City’s defensive third kept the visitors off the board.
'You get, I wouldn't say a second wind, because it's more like your fourth wind at that point, but you have to have a mindset of, okay, 10 minutes. We got this. Let's hammer down,' said Gorden.
Angel City’s next match—their final group-stage Challenge Cup game—is next Saturday, August 5, away at San Diego at 4:30.