Angel City beat the North Carolina Courage 2–1 in their first-ever gameat Banc of California Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd of 22,000 fans. Vanessa Gilles and Jun Endo scored in the first half for ACFC, with Debinha getting one back for the Courage in the second half.
After a slate of pregame festivities celebrating the club’s inaugural regular-season game, Angel City started the game with a bang, opening the scoring in the third minute. Forward Jun Endo beat Courage midfielder Denise O’Sullivan to a ball that was about to roll over the end line, controlled it, and whipped in a cross toward a knot of ACFC players around the goal mouth. Defender Vanessa Gilles jumpedto get her head on the ball and sent it into the back of the net.
Not long after, in the 13th minute, Endo notched a goal of her own. Midfielder Savannah McCaskill hoofed a long diagonal pass into a large pocket of space on the left side of the field; the Japanese international sprinted onto the ball, took two touches, and fired it inside the far post with her left foot.
North Carolina nearly answered in the 19th minute, when forward Kerolin took a crack from close range. Her shot hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced to the ground, where defender Jasmyne Spencer managed to clear the ball to safety.
One minute later, forward Christen Press had a clutch defensive play when Courage forward Taylor Smith beat her mark with a clever dribble and had an open shot on goal. Press got around Smith just in time and blocked the shot for a corner.
In the 38th minute, keeper DiDi Haračić had an impressive save when defender Jaelene Daniels crossed the ball to Gray around the six-yard line, and she one-timed the ball toward the near post. Haračić dove and just blocked the shot out for a corner.
The second half also got off to a quick start, this time with the visitors getting one back. Midfielder EmilyGray crossed the ball into the box from the right, and midfielder Debinha sprinted around Spencer and took a diving header to send the ball past Haračić.
Haračić had another impressive save in the 54th minute, this time against midfielder Debinha when she struck a curving shot from outside the 18.
The game got chippier as the half wore on, and North Carolina continued to knock, forcing some gritty defending by the Angel City back line. Buoyed by a raucous home crowd, the team held on through the half and six minutes of stoppage time to seal their first-ever regular-season win.
Angel City is at home again next Sunday against the Orlando Pride at 5 p.m. PST. The match will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
