Angel City wins first Summer Cup match against Club America

Opening the inaugural NWSL x Liga MX Summer Cup tournament on Saturday at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Stadium had to feel more like a second wind for Angel City.

Wins have been hard to come by for Angel City so far this season, even as they still remain very much in the race to qualify for the NWSL playoffs. However, on Saturday, against Club America Feminil, Angel City hit the reset button, as two spectacular goals from Kennedy Fuller and Sydney Leroux earned Angel City its first win in the tournament, as they held off a game America squad with the 2-1 win.

“As a team we kind of put it together,” Fuller said. “We definitely want to improve on a bunch of things we’ve been working on. At the end of the day, we really have gotten a little bit of energy back, which is exactly what we needed. We’re looking forward to the rest of this tournament.”

Angel City edged ahead in the 29th minute. Merritt Mathias found an open Fuller just outside the penalty area, Fuller touched a ball into the box, then fired a right-footed volley that sailed past keeper Sandra Panos far post to give Angel City the lead.

Angel City spent most of the match neutralizing the America attack save for a few chances, then Leroux sealed the three points in the 89th minute, as Madison Hammond won a ball just outside the penalty area, the ball trickled to Leroux, who immediately one-timed a left-footed shot past Panos far post to double the Angel City advantage. Leroux’s goal turned out to be the game-winner, as America got on the board in the third minute of stoppage time, as Kiana Palacios headed a Miah Zuazua free kick past keeper Angelina Anderson into the back net, but time had simply run out on America.