Match Preview: Angel City vs Washington Spirit | 9.27.24

Friday, September 27, at 7:00 p.m., Angel City is at home against the Washington Spirit. The match will stream live on Prime Video. Radio coverage will be available in English on iHeart and in Spanish on 980 AM La Mera Mera.

Matchup

Angel City’s last game was a 2–2 draw at home against the Portland Thorns on Monday, September 23. Forwards Alyssa Thompson and Claire Emslie scored for Angel City, with forward Morgan Weaver and midfielder Olivia Moultrie getting on the board for the visitors.

Washington’s most recent result was a 0–3 loss on the road in Kansas City on Friday, September 20.

Angel City last faced Spirit on the road on May 18, a meeting that ended in a 2–4 loss. The two teams have a 2–0–3 (W–L–D) record all-time.

Washington are currently in second place in the league with a 14–5–2 record; Angel City are in 10th with a 6–11–4 record.

Scouting Report

After a middling 2023 that saw Washington narrowly miss the playoffs with an eighth-place finish, the Spirit have come roaring back this season to claim their place among a top four who are a clear cut above the rest of the league.

Their success is largely thanks to a dominant offense; the team has the second-best attacking record in the league, with 42 goals scored, behind only Kansas City’s 46. They have two of the top five leading scorers in the NWSL—Trinity Rodman and Ouleymata Sarr, who each have eight—but their production isn’t limited to a few top players, as 14 players have scored for the team, with 10 contributing at least one assist.

Although Washington officially hired current head coach Jonatan Giráldez in January of this year, he opted to stay with his former club, FC Barcelona, through the end of their season in June. Adrián González led the team until Giráldez arrived ahead of the Summer Cup, and the midseason transition seems not to have had a negative impact.

The Spirit did, however, suffer a major loss earlier this month when likely Rookie-of-the-Year contender Croix Bethune, who had recorded five goals and 10 assists—tying the all-time NWSL record for most assists in a single season—was placed on the season-ending injury list after suffering a knee injury away from the club.

Unofficial Contributions

After not finding the back of the net in the first 16 games of the season, Thompson has notched five goals in the last five games, including the opener in four of those games. Midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard assisted two of those goals, one against San Diego and one against Portland, with forward Sydney Leroux setting the youngster up against Seattle.

Although Thompson’s remaining two—her openers against San Diego and Chicago—were officially unassisted, a look back at those two plays shows Dougherty Howard deserves a good share of the credit in both cases. 

Against San Diego, the midfielder received a pass from goalkeeper DiDi Haračić, turned to dribble up the field, and sent a ball over the top of the Wave defense that Thompson sprinted onto before beating goalkeeper Keilen Sheridan—with Dougherty Howard not earning an official assist only because the ball deflected off a defender en route to Thompson.

She took a different route to set up Thompson’s goal against Chicago, putting a beautiful curving effort of her own on target, which bounced out of goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher’s hands and into Thompson’s path for her to put away with a one-touch finish.

Dougherty Howard also notched a goal of her own against Louisville, pouncing on the second ball after an attempt by Emslie was blocked.

In short, though she hasn’t always shown up on the stat sheet, Dougherty Howard has been a key contributor to Angel City’s offensive success since the Olympic break.