Match Preview: Angel City vs NJ/NY Gotham FC (Summer Cup Semifinal) | 8.6.24

Tuesday, August 6 at 2 p.m. Pacific, Angel City faces NJ/NY Gotham FC in the semifinal of the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City. The game will be available on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+ in the US; on ESPN and Disney+ in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama; and elsewhere on NWSL+. 

Angel City will be hosting a watch party at Hi Tops Los Feliz. With the USWNT facing Germany in the Olympic semifinal earlier in the day, the event starts at 8:30 a.m., with the Olympic match starting at 9:00, continuing through the afternoon for the Angel City game.

Matchup

Angel City heads into this match having won all three of their group-stage games, the first two outright and the third, against San Diego Wave, in penalties following a scoreless draw. The shootout saw goalkeeper DiDi Haračić make a key save against Wave forward Amirah Ali, with conversions for Angel City by Claire Emslie, Christen Press, Alyssa Thompson, Rocky Rodríguez, and Kennedy Fuller.

Gotham has the same record in the group stage: two outright wins, against Washington Spirit and Chivas, and one in penalties, against the Chicago Red Stars. Their last match, a 3–0 win against Chivas, saw a brace by forward Katie Stengel and one goal by forward Ella Stevens.

This will mark Angel City’s third matchup with Gotham this season, following the teams’ two regular-season matches. The two teams last met on July 6 at BMO Stadium, where the visitors beat ACFC 2–1.

“I think we have kind of a sour taste in our mouth after the last regular-season games against them, both away and at home,” said defender Sarah Gorden in a pregame press conference today. “We want to keep building off what we've been doing the past [three] games. I think we're really excited about tomorrow's game and we're hoping to bring some more excitement.”

Angel City has a 1–4–1 all-time against New Jersey, who are the reigning NWSL champions.

In the Summer Cup, Gotham and ACFC are seeded second and third, respectively, as they are tied on points with eight each. Gotham holds the edge on goal differential 4–3.

Scouting Report

Gotham have seven players away at the 2024 Olympics: goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger; defender Tierna Davidson; midfielders Jenna Nighswonger, Emily Sonnett, and Rose Lavelle; and forwards Lynn Williams and Crystal Dunn. They are tied with Orlando for most Olympic absences in the league.

One might assume based on those absences that Gotham has been fielding a B team in the Summer Cup, but that doesn’t do justice to the squad that’s remained, which is still a formidable NWSL side. Among that group are key central midfielders Delanie Sheehan, Neely Martin, and Yazmeen Ryan, with forwards Stevens and Esther González holding things down up top. Stevens comes closest of all those players to being in Gotham’s second string, with just eight starts out of 13 appearances, but she nonetheless leads the team in goals and assists, with five and three, respectively.

That group has been getting the job done in the USWNT stars’ absence, and they seem to have built momentum throughout the group stage, opening the tournament with a scoreless draw against Chicago, beating Washington with a single penalty kick goal, and finally comfortably beating Chivas.

In that game, Stengel and Stevens not only traded off scoring each of the three goals; they also assisted each other on all three, with Stevens setting up both of Stengel’s and Stengel repaying the favor for Stevens’s 63rd-minute goal.

A Bright Future

Despite the team having lost just one player, defender Ali Riley, to the Olympics, Angel City’s run thus far has also seen important contributions from players who typically come off the bench.

One player on that list is forward Messiah Bright, who has compiled 198 minutes in three starts and—despite not getting on the board yet—has been a major contributor to the team’s offense.

“This tournament's been an opportunity for players like Messiah who needed minutes, fitness, and confidence that have been really difficult [to get during] the regular season,” said Head Coach Becki Tweed in a press conference today. “I think you can see the confidence that Messiah is now playing with and I think she's just going to continue to grow.”

Against Bay FC, Bright had the assist on forward Claire Emslie’s goal, which was not just her first assist for Angel City, but her first ever as a professional.

In addition to the assist, Bright has been a consistent threat both in setting up teammates and looking to score herself, recording three big chances—tied for second most in the tournament so far—and nine shots, the most of any Angel City player. Last week against San Diego, she came close to opening her account, impressively beating her defender around the outside to a long through ball, but couldn’t quite put her attempt on frame.

“She's such a threat with the ball at her feet,” said Tweed. “She's a threat behind the back line… I think she's enjoying the game again. She's playing with a smile on her face. And she has that freedom to continue to grow.”

The Tournament As it Stands

With the group stage of the inaugural Summer Cup in the books, all five group winners are NWSL clubs. Utah Royals, who won Group A on goal differential, have been eliminated from the tournament as the worst-performing group winner. The other semifinal match, which will be contested at 6:00 p.m. Pacific, also in Kansas City, will pit the top-seeded Kansas City Current against the fourth-place North Carolina Courage.

More information on the tournament, including a tournament bracket and complete schedule, can be found here.

The two semifinal winners will square off in the tournament final at Toyota field in San Antonio, Texas, on October 25.