After a quick turnaround, traveling from Los Angeles to North Carolina, the Angel City Football Club fell flat in the first game of a three-game road trip.
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However, Angel City was able to regain some momentum.
Angel City left home Aug. 24, one day after a hard-fought, physical scoreless draw against Gotham FC. Two later, Aug. 26, Angel City suffered a 2-0 loss against the North Carolina Courage.
After North Carolina, the road trip continued. Angel City defeated Boston Legacy 5-2 and concluded Saturday with a 2-0 win against Racing Louisville FC.
“I think it was really difficult,” Angel City interim coach Leif Smerud said. “We were only two days in between and the other team had a day more and they don’t have to travel … the odds are not good and it really makes a difference, those 24 hours extra rest.
“To bounce back after that game and sort of do what we did … Boston was really good. We talked about let’s not go down because we lost against North Carolina.”
Angel City will face another short turnaround this week, but both games will be at home at BMO Stadium. After Friday’s home game against Denver Summit FC, Angel City will host the Seattle Reign on Sept. 16.
Added importance to the team’s recent stretch and the next two games can be found in the NWSL standings. Seattle begins the week in the eighth and final playoff spot on 34 points, followed by ninth-place Angel City (32 points) and 10th-place Denver (30).
“Denver’s a good team. It’s really awesome that an expansion team has played the quality of soccer that they have this year,” Angel City defender Evelyn Shores said. “They’re coming off of a 3-0 win to Gotham, which will give them a lot of confidence, but we have a lot of momentum going into this game and we’re going to be at home.”
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Smerud believes his team will be better prepared to handle the two games in six days, starting first against a tough Denver Summit team.
“I’m impressed by Denver,” Smerud said. “They play good kind of football, trying to dominate, push a lot of players forward, have different tracks and good sort of ball circulation,” he said. “They’re well-coached and well-balanced. The last game against Gotham, they were really good and they had some good games before that.
“Tough opponent, but also, playing Louisville away is really hard and difficult. Here we face a team that wants to play and dominate and that can be a very nice challenge for us as well, because it gives us some opportunities when the other wants to attack and go forward, so it’s going to be a very interesting game.”
Immethun’s contract extended
Immethun, who was acquired July 31 in a trade with Portland and signed through Sept. 6, had her contract extended through the end of the 2026 season. Immethun played collegiately at UCLA and Loyola Marymount.
Club records broken
After 22 games and with eight more to go, Angel City has already set several club records with nine wins, 32 points and 34 goals scored.
The 2023 team, along with the inaugural 2022 season, held the club record with eight wins. The previous mark for points was 31 set in 2023, the only season that Angel City has qualified for the playoffs.
Angel City has yet to have a double-digit goal scorer. Riley Tiernan holds the club record with eight goals, which was set last season. This season, Sveindís Jónsdóttir and Maiara Niehues have seven goals apiece.
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DENVER SUMMIT FC at ANGEL CITY FC
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: BMO Stadium
How to watch: ION