Match Recap: Angel City 2, San Diego Wave 1 | 8.24.24

Angel City beat San Diego Wave 2–1 on the road today in their first regular-season game since July 6. Forward Alyssa Thompson had a brace for Angel City, with defender Abby Dahlkemper scoring late in stoppage time for San Diego.

Angel City started knocking early, finding a chance in the 13th minute. Forward Messiah Bright sent a well-weighted through ball in for forward Claire Emslie, who put an angled shot on target, but goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan blocked it with her foot.

The visitors stayed on the front foot and opened the scoring in the 20th minute. Midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard played a long ball in behind, which Wave defender Hanna Lundkvist got a foot on but was unable to stop. Thompson got on the end of the pass and drove toward goal, dribbling past goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan as she dove to try to claim the ball; with Sheridan off her line, Thompson had an easy left-footed finish to put Angel City up 1–0.

It would be less than ten minutes before Thompson doubled the lead. In the 29th minute, the forward dribbled up the left wing, cut inside into the box, and shot through a pack of defenders. Sheridan dove and made contact with the ball, but it slipped through her grip and into the back of the net.

With 15 minutes left in the half, the scoring chances slowed down, but ACFC remained firmly in control of the midfield for most of that time. San Diego had their first real look of the half in the 40th minute, when Lundkvist sent a lofted pass into the six-yard box, where midfielder Emily Van Egmond was lurking. She got her head on the ball, lobbing it high and ultimately hitting the crossbar for a goal kick.

Thompson came close again in the 68th minute after midfielder Katie Zelem—making her debut for Angel City—played a ball in for midfielder Kennedy Fuller inside the 18. Fuller took the ball endline and sent a diagonal pass into Thompson’s run as she neared the penalty spot—but her one-timed shot hit the crossbar.

San Diego had more attempts in the final 20 minutes of the game, starting with a 72nd-minute shot by midfielder Delphine Cascarino that goalkeeper DiDi Haračić did well to save: the French international curled a shot in from just inside the 18, which the keeper got a hand on, deflecting it into the crossbar and out for a corner kick.

Cascarino had another attempt in the 84th minute, cutting across the Angel City back line and firing off a hard strike, which defender Megan Reid blocked with her body.

The visitors’ final look of the game came in the 87th minute with a cross from the left by M.A. Vignola that Emslie connected with at the far post, but she hit the woodwork.

The Wave notched their single goal in the 97th minute when midfielder María Sánchez served a free kick in behind the ACFC back line, which defender Abby Dahlkemper headed past Haračić and into the back of the net.

Thompson's brace was her first as a professional in all competitions. It also made her just the second teenager in NWSL history to score multiple goals in a regular-season game (Mallory Swanson was the first).

Angel City is at home next week on Sunday, September 1 at 1:00 p.m. against the Chicago Red Stars.