Match Preview: Angel City vs Seattle Reign | 9.6.24

Friday, September 6, at 7:00 p.m., Angel City at home against the Seattle Reign. The match will stream live on Prime Video. Radio coverage will be available in English on iHeart and in Spanish on 1330 AM Tu Liga Radio.

Matchup

Angel City’s last game was a 2–1 win at home against the Chicago Red Stars on September 1. Forwards Alyssa Thompson and Sydney Leroux scored for Angel City, with midfielder Bea Franklin notching one for the visitors.

Seattle’s most recent result was a 3–2 win on the road in Louisville. Defender Sofia Huerta and midfielder Ji So-Yun both found the back of the net, with an own goal by Racing’s Arin Wright rounding out the scoring for the Reign.

The two teams’ last regular-season meeting was a 2–1 Angel City win at home last August; they also met in the playoff semifinals last year, a game Seattle won 1–0.

LA has a 1–0–3 (W–L–D) all-time regular-season record against Seattle.

The Reign are currently in 11th place with a 4–9–5 record; Angel City are in ninth with a 6–9–3 record.

Scouting Report

After a rocky start to the season—they went 2–9–1 in their first 12 games—Seattle have begun to right the ship, earning four draws in a row ahead of the Olympic break, and two wins since the return of the regular season. Because the last few playoff spots are so tightly contested—just five points currently separate seventh place from tenth place—Reign, like Angel City, could still make the postseason if their strong run of form continues.

During the August transfer window, Head Coach Laura Harvey made some moves to strengthen a roster that had taken some hits last offseason with the retirement of forward Megan Rapinoe and the free agency departures of midfielder Rose Lavelle and defender Emily Sonnett. The club traded forward Bethany Balcer to Louisville in exchange for Jaelin Howell; although Balcer was the team’s leading scorer, Howell adds defensive quality and physicality to the midfield.

The team also added two forwards, Swiss international Ana-Maria Crnogorčević and Haiti captain Nérilia Mondésir.

Crnogorčević, Switzerland’s all-time leading goal scorer with 74 goals in 159 caps, comes to the Emerald City via Atlético Madrid, where she recorded a goal and two assists in 534 minutes. This isn’t Crnogorčević’s first stint in the NWSL, as she spent two seasons with Portland in 2018 and 2019, earning six goals and four assists across 32 appearances.

The 25-year-old Mondésir has spent her whole seven-year club career at Montpellier in France’s D1F, with 20 goals—19 of them in the last three seasons—and 16 assists. For Haiti, she has an impressive 30 goals in 25 appearances and helped her team qualify for their first-ever World Cup in 2023.

Syd and the Kids Redux

Last week saw forward Alyssa Thompson notch her third goal in two games for Angel City, after recording her first two of the season against San Diego the week before.

Forward Sydney Leroux, meanwhile, scored her second game-winner of the season. The first was at home against Racing Louisville in June in the 85th minute, in a game that saw two rookies, defender Madison Curry and midfielder Kennedy Fuller, combine for the team’s second goal.

It’s a reminder of what both the team’s youngsters and its veterans bring to the table: Thompson’s skill and quickness are a huge asset in both creating and scoring from wide areas, while Leroux’s experience and tenacity give her a knack for clutch late game-winners.

The 34-year-old’s winner against Chicago was her 46th career NWSL goal, bumping her above Kansas City’s Debinha and into ninth place on the list of all-time leading scorers.