Match Recap: Angel City 2, Seattle Reign 3 | 9.6.24

Angel City lost 2–3 at home tonight to the Seattle Reign following goals by forwards Alyssa Thompson and Sydney Leroux. Defender Sofia Huerta, midfielder Ji So-Yun, and forward Tziarra King scored for Seattle.

After being pinned into their defensive third in the early minutes of the game, Angel City opened the scoring in the eighth minute. Forward Sydney Leroux won the ball in the midfield and sent a diagonal pass to Thompson as she made a run up the left. Thompson dribbled into the box, burst past her mark, and sent a close-range angled shot past goalkeeper Claudia Dickey and into the back of the net. 

Seattle had their first real chance of the game in the 11th minute, with forward Tziarra King taking a diagonal shot from just inside the 18, but defender Jasmyne Spencer blocked it out for a corner.

In the 31st minute, Seattle defender Sofia Huerta stepped up to take a penalty kick following a foul by goalkeeper DiDi Haračić against forward Jordyn Huitema in the box. Huerta sent her shot to the right, with Haračić diving left, to bring the score to 1–1.

The Reign continued to work their way into the game as the half went on, with Haračić making a pair of clutch saves in the 35th minute to keep the score level. After Seattle won the ball in their attacking third, Huitema sent a short diagonal pass to King, who put a low shot on target from close range—but Haračić dove to block it. The keeper claimed the ball when King took a second shot with the rebounded ball.

Haračić had another pair of saves in the 45th minute, first stopping an attempt by midfielder Quinn from outside the 18, then claiming Huitema’s shot on the rebound.

Seattle stayed on the front foot heading into stoppage time, with midfielder Ji So-Yun taking a one-timed shot off a service by forward Ana-Maria Crnogorčević near the penalty spot that flew over the crossbar in the 48th minute.

In the 51st minute, Huitema headed a cross by defender Shae Holmes down into the middle of the box, where Ji scooped up the ball, beating her mark to place her shot just inside the near post to put Seattle ahead going into the break.

The visitors notched what would end up being the game-winner in the 59th minute when Crnogorčević sent a cross from the right corner of the 18 into the run of King near the far post, where she one-timed it past Haračić and into the back of the net.

In the 66th minute, Thompson dribbled into the box from the right and took an angled shot, which Dickie blocked; the rebounded ball nearly fell to Leroux at the far post, but the forward didn’t quite connect.

The hosts scored but had their goal pulled back following a video review in the 67th minute. On a corner kick play, Leroux sent a pass to defender M.A. Vignola, who hit the back of the net on a low shot from the edge of the 18—but Leroux was ruled to have been in an offside position upon review.

ACFC had a second goal pulled back following a review in the 85th minute. Dougherty-Howard served a long ball into the box; it took several bounces, but the Reign failed to clear it, and it rolled to midfielder Madison Hammond near the edge of the six-yard box. Hammond sent it inside the far post, but her goal was nullified following review for a foul on the play by Leroux.

Angel City finally pulled one back in the 99th minute. Vignola sent a cross past her mark and into the six-yard box from the left edge of the penalty area, and Leroux headed the ball over Dickie’s head and into the net.

Angel City plays next on the road in Louisville on Saturday, September 14 at 4:30 p.m.