Angel City beat rivals San Diego Wave FC in the UKG Challenge Cup tonight, following goals by midfielder Madison Hammond and forward Clarisse Le Bihan.
After the game, Interim Head Coach Becki Tweed noted the importance of 'build[ing] our momentum from game to game and not letting it drop but continuing to move forward... I think we created a bunch in this game. I don’t want to say we were unfortunate [not to score more] because I don’t believe in unfortunate, but we just needed to be more ruthless in the final third,' she said.
Angel City started the game with a bang when they opened the scoring in just the second minute. A corner kick by midfielder Clarisse Le Bihan fell to defender Paige Nielsen, who chipped the ball over a few defenders and into the six-yard box. Midfielder Madison Hammond was crashing the net and headed the ball past goalkeeper Shae Yañez from point-blank range. The goal, scored at 1:19, was the fastest in UKG Challenge Cup history. It was also Hammond’s first professional goal.
'We work a lot on set pieces,' said Hammond after the game. 'We have this phrase: scrappy equals happy. I thought back to the last game against San Diego when Paige had a great goal against them and I thought, 'what if this deflects into a weird space?' so I decided to gamble a little.'
After a brief spell of possession by San Diego deep in Angel City’s attacking third, ACFC was on the front foot for most of the remainder of the half.
The home team notched a second goal in the 18th minute when defender Megan Reid sent a long forward ball over the top for midfielder Savannah McCaskill. McCaskill sprinted to reach the ball in the penalty area and one-timed a sideways pass across the face of goal to forward Scarlett Camberos, who found Le Bihan at the six-yard line as she had dropped back to get free of her mark. With Yañez focused on Camberos at the far post, Le Bihan easily tapped it home.
'I was a nine today, so in my head I was like, 'I have to score,'' said Le Bihan after the game. 'It's been a long time since I've played there, but I like to play with the people around me and read the game—and it's nice to be closer to the goal to get more opportunities to score.'
Angel City had another chance in the 26th minute when forward Jasmyne Spencer sprinted up the right and beat defender Madison Pogarch around the outside. She sent a sideways pass to McCaskill, but her shot hit the post.
After the game, Tweed praised Spencer's performance at winger, a position she doesn't typically play for Angel City. 'I think Jas is incredible one v one,' she said. 'She’s confident in the attacking third. She works inside and outside, both sides of the ball. She looks natural as a winger… She got through 70 minutes of good quality production [today]. I've just seen her love and enjoyment of [playing] winger and her fit really naturally in there.'
San Diego defender Mia Gyau had a dramatic off-the-line save in the 36th minute, when McCaskill served a ball to Le Bihan in the box and she put her shot on frame.
Hammond had another chance in the 38th minute when she got her head on a cross from the right by defender Ali Riley, but her attempt hit the woodwork.
Early in the second half, keeper Brittany Isenhour made a pair of saves, first stopping a 51st-minute effort by midfielder Taylor Kornieck from just inside the box, then one by forward Melanie Barcenas, who had run onto a through ball into the 18.
In the 63rd minute, San Diego pulled one back when defender Kaleigh Riehl headed a corner kick by forward Jaedyn Shaw away from goal to the feet of midfielder Danielle Colaprico. Colaprico settled the ball and fired off a left-footed rocket from the edge of the box and into the back of the net.
Forward Katie Johnson put one more attempt on frame for Angel City in the 79th minute, but the score stayed at 2–1. National team replacement players Elizabeth Eddy and Kelsey Hill each saw their first minutes with Angel City, entering the game in the second half.
Le Bihan praised the connectedness of the team's attacking corps. 'We played together and I think we had so much fun—more during the first half than in the second—but it was so much fun to play together and create like opportunities run and pass for each other,' she said. 'It was great. I think we should have killed the game after the first half, but there was a lot of positive stuff to come from this game.'
ACFC plays next on the road this Sunday, July 2 at 2:30 p.m. PT at NJ/NY Gotham FC. The game will be broadcast locally on Bally SoCal and streamed on Paramount+.
