Angel City Football Club reached a couple of milestones on Monday night and have a lot of time to set several new team records.
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First, the team’s 5-2 victory over Boston Legacy FC was its eighth this season, tying the 2022 and 2023 squads for most wins in the club’s brief history.
Angel City has also scored 32 goals this season, breaking the record of 31 set in 2023.
The 2023 team stands out as the only Angel City team to reach the NWSL playoffs, but this year’s team is in a fight to become the second.
Angel City is in ninth place in the 16-team NWSL with 29 points, sitting two points behind eighth-place Seattle for the final playoff spot. The teams will square off on Sept. 16 in L.A.
Angel City, which concludes a three-game road trip Saturday against Racing Louisville FC, will soon turn its attention to consecutive home games (Sept. 11 and 16) in just six days.
“We want to build on our development,” interim coach Leif Smerud said after Monday’s win. “This gives us a lot of energy and belief. The game against Louisville last time (July 26) is enough motivation for us. We want to go there and try to win. We want revenge.”
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“This was a big game for us. We wanted to build on what we have been doing well. We wanted to bounce back and we wanted to attack the backline. We knew we could hurt them with Sveindís (Jónsdóttir) and Prisca (Chilufya), and we managed to do that. Really happy and proud of the performance … it was dominant.”
Angel City scored three goals inside the first 20 minutes on Monday and was never in danger of losing control.
“We spoke a lot about the game plan this week,” Chilufya said. “I’m happy with how we showed that on the pitch; it’s what we trained this whole week. That’s what we need moving forward.”
Angel City also welcomed back Maiara Niehues from a leg injury. Niehues is tied for the team lead in goals with Jónsdóttir at seven apiece. With nine games left, both have an opportunity to become Angel City’s first double-digit goal scorer.
“They (Jónsdóttir and Niehues) are very brilliant players, and whenever we have them, it’s like a boost to our team because they have contributed a lot,” Chilufya said. “It’s good to have them back, and the team is excited because we know how important they are and what they bring to the team.”
Louisville defeated Angel City, 2-1, in their first meeting on July 26 at BMO Stadium and has won the last four meetings in the series.
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ANGEL CITY FC at RACING LOUISVILLE FC
When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. PT
Where: Lynn Family Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky
How to watch: ION