The Angel City Football Club (ACFC) secured a 2-1 victory over the OL Reign, edging up their overall record 5-6-6.
“We knew that we needed to be the best versions of ourselves on the day to win the game and we knew that it would take all of us to do it,” said Angel City head coach Becki Tweed. “We focused a lot on us and I think that showed that there was tough times tonight for us in moments of the game an we were able to pull each other through.”
Soccer icon and OL Reign forward Megan Rapinoe talks about the progress women’s soccer has made during her career. The Reign fell to Angel City 1-2 pic.twitter.com/1WLIJ6iTG0
— Amanda Scurlock (@Amandtastic) August 28, 2023
The first goal came on the 13th minute when forward Clarisse Le Bihan sent a close-ranged shot to the top left corner of the net, forward Scarlett Camberos secured an assist on the play.
The second Angel City goal came in the second half when Le Bihan assisted midfielder Madison Hammond with a goal at the 57th minute.
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“Set pieces, one, has been a big area of improvement for me this year. I’ve been really focused on it,” Hammond said. “But second, as I was making my run into the box, I ran into Scarlett (Camberos) fullspeed and I was like “get out of my way” but it actually but actually made the timing of my run perfect.”
Tweed substituted forward Alyssa Thompson out for Jun Endo at the 58th minute, the first of five substitutions. Tweed explained the importance of utilizing their depth.
“I think that we don’t rely on eleven players, we rely on a big roster,” Tweed said. “We’ve been waiting for moments like this where our starting eleven is deep, our bench is deep and the players that we don’t have rostered are deep.”
After the match, ACFC players presented flowers to reserve forward Megan Rapinoe, who will be retiring at the end of the season.
“The atmosphere was poppin … created a really great environment not just [ACFC] players to play but we enjoy coming here as well,” Rapinoe said. “I wish we would have put a better performance out for ourselves.”
Rapinoe entered the match at the 45th minute and scored a goal on a penalty kick at the 74th minute. ACFC captain Ali Riley mentioned how she is happy to have played in the same generation as her. Her outspoken advocacy off the pitch makes Rapinoe “bigger than the sport,” according to Riley.
“For her to score the penalty, I think we saw that moment played out globally at the World Cup,” Riley said. “It’s surreal to think that [Rapinoe] won’t be playing anymore.”
Hammond had Rapinoe as a teammate early in her career, noting her strong work ethic, down-to-earth personality, and sense of humor.
“I met her coming right off of 2019 in the World Cup and she just suddenly became literally an icon, but [Rapinoe] is just [Rapinoe],” Hammond said. “She shows up every single day and she trains just as hard as everyone. She pushes everyone to be the best version of themselves and also forces you to be the best version of yourself because she’s so good.”
Angel City will travel to battle the Kansas City Current on September 1 at 5:00P.M.
