It's in the Books: Recapping 2023

Angel City's 2023 season ended in historic fashion, with the team's biggest win ever sending the team to their first playoff berth. Although their trip to Seattle ended in heartbreak with a 0–1 loss to OL Reign, ACFC's sophomore year was, in the end, a resounding success. Read on for our 2023 highlights.

Angel City took a big step forward on the field in 2023, and there's no clearer sign of that than the club's record over the second half of the season. When Head Coach Becki Tweed took over in June, the team was in 11th place; their first game under Tweed was a win that would kick off an 11-game (all-competition) unbeaten streak, ending only in the third-to-last game of the regular season against Orlando.

The team's 6–1–4 (W–L–D) regular-season record during that time was the best in the league by a substantial margin. Even eventual champions NJ/NY Gotham FC lost four times in that same span—as did the Shield-winning San Diego Wave.

That record—including the team's best performance ever, a 5–1 season-finale win against the Portland Thorns—was good enough to punch Angel City's first-ever ticket to the playoffs.

ACFC's fifth-place finish was three spots above where they landed in 2022, but looking at the stats, their improvement in quality seems to have been even greater than that implies: their expected goal differential (a number derived from expected goals, calculated by measuring the quality of shots a team took and the quality of those their opponents took, and subtracting the second number from the first) in 2023 was .8, a huge leap from their 2022 xGD of -6.9. In other words, Angel City improved substantially on both sides of the ball from last season—more substantially than their win/loss record alone shows.

The team's form over the second half of the season would not have been possible without a number of outstanding individual performances.

Angel City began the year by selecting Alyssa Thompson with the top overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft, a move that paid off almost the moment she stepped onto the field. The Rookie of the Year finalist—the youngest draft pick in league history—recorded four goals and two assists in her first season, including an 11th-minute strike in her NWSL debut.

Sarah Gorden's availability for all 1,980 minutes of the regular season provided a huge boost defensively, with the defender's jaw-dropping athleticism all but neutralizing transitional attacks by opponents. Gorden also contributed substantially to the attack, ranking in the top 10 in passes into the final third, with 173.

In the central midfield, Savannah McCaskill was an invaluable asset, serving to link the midfield and forward line more often than any other player. Her 13 through balls were the second-most in the league, and her 36 chances were the seventh best. She was also the only non-defender ranking in the top 10 for passes into the final third, which highlights the role she played throughout the midfield, not just high up in the typical No. 10 pocket.

Finally, winger Claire Emslie was one of the most prolific creators leaguewide, ranking first in successful crosses with 22. That number alone doesn't quite do Emslie justice, however, as it obscures the type of crosses the Scottish international favors. Rather than hoofing hopeful balls into the 18 from the wing, Emslie is more likely to beat a wide defender or two—either on the dribble or by combining with an outside back or midfielder—then cut inside and place a low lateral ball for a teammate crashing the net.

With the appointment of former Interim Head Coach Becki Tweed to the full-time job, Angel City looks poised to continue its 2023 run into next year. While it's still unknown which players will remain with the team in 2024—thanks in part to the looming expansion draft that will allow Bay FC and the Utah Royals to take up to two players from the roster—what's just as significant as personnel is culture.

Tweed turned the attitude in the locker room around when she started, implementing a highly competitive environment where every player knew that what they did on the training field could win them minutes. The success of her approach is self-evident, and ultimately earned her the job.

'We've built a platform and we've shown each other what we're capable of,' she told AngelCity.com when she was hired as head coach. 'We've set a standard and now we have to move the needle a little bit more and raise that standard. And I think that's exciting. Every single person, player, staff member, feels like the work is not done.'