Angel City defeated Seattle Reign FC 1–0 on the road tonight following a goal from defender M.A. Vignola. The win kept the team’s playoff hopes alive heading into the final three games of the season.
After a back-and-forth start to the match, Angel City started to pick up momentum around the 20-minute mark, with forward Alyssa Thompson sending a few crosses into the box. In the 28th minute, Thompson found forward Messiah Bright at the near post with a cross from the left, but Bright’s header missed its mark.
Seattle had their best chance of the half in the 31st minute, when forward Tziarra King sent a long diagonal service to the far side of the six-yard box, where forward Ana-Maria Crnogorčević was making a run and connected with the ball with her head—but Angel City keeper DiDi Haračić blocked the attempt for a corner.
Thompson had her own attempt in the 33rd minute, this one blocked by a defender for a corner.
In the 34th minute, the visitors scored the game’s lone goal following a give-and-go play between Thompson and Vignola. As Vignola cut inside toward the penalty area off the left wing, she found Thompson with a short sideways pass. Vignola continued her run, collecting a well-weighted through ball by Thompson with the outside of her foot, taking a step, and firing off an angled shot with her right foot, which landed just inside the far post to give Angel City the lead.
Angel City kept pushing for the remainder of the half. They had another look in the 44th minute when forward Claire Emslie received the ball on a short corner kick and sent it into the mixer. Midfielder Katie Zelem headed the initial service into the crossbar, with defender Megan Reid getting her foot on the rebounded ball but failing to put enough power into her shot.
The visitors had their final chance of the half in the 47th minute, when Bright got her head on the end of a corner kick—but her attempt once again went wide.
The second half was relatively quiet offensively from both teams, with Reign getting a couple looks that posed little trouble for Angel City’s defense.
In the 54th minute, Haračić had another save. On a transition play, King and midfielder Jordyn Huitema combined to find forward Veronica Latsko inside the 18. Latsko fired off an angled shot, which Haračić dove to block; defender Sarah Gorden cleared the deflected ball.
In the 80th minute, it was Gorden’s turn to keep Seattle off the board. Crnogorčević ran onto a short through ball from Huitema on the right side of the 18, turning to send the ball into the six-yard box with a single touch—where Gorden blocked it for a corner kick before it could land in the run of an onrushing attacker.
Tonight brought Angel City’s scoring streak to eight games, with a total of 12 goals across that span.
The team’s next match is on the road next Saturday, October 12, against the North Carolina Courage. The game will be broadcast on ION.