Key decisions impact Angel City in loss to Reign

Coming off two big victories since resuming NWSL play, Angel City FC looked to continue building momentum in its drive for the playoffs on Friday night.

Angel City jumped out to the early lead against the Seattle Reign at BMO Stadium, but the Reign turned out to be just one obstacle for Angel City on Friday night. Several key decisions in the match wiped two Angel City goals, and while they pressed on and still made a game out of it, the decisions ultimately made an impact, as the Reign handed Angel City a 3-2 defeat.

“Coming back from two goals disallowed by VAR is tough, but I think it has helped us grow,” Angel City head coach Becki Tweed said. “We put the ball in the back of the net four times and we created chances. That is a massive growth mindset from us that we can keep going and we can dig out moments.” 

The loss leaves Angel City (6-10-3, 21 points) still tied with Bay FC for the final playoff spot. Angell City will certainly be keeping an eye on Bay FC’s match with Racing Louisville, as the latter sits two points behind both California teams.

Angel City took the lead eight minutes into the match. Angel City forced a turnover near midfield and Sydney Leroux passed a ball to Alyssa Thompson, who then dribbled all the way down the left side into the penalty area, Thompson then fired a left-footed shot past keeper Claudia Dickey to the far post.

Seattle however got a chance to equalize, though it took a while for said opportunity to confirm. It started inthe 28th minute, as Tziarra King sent a perfect ball into the penalty area, Jordan Huitema snuck past Megan Reid to chase the ball down, Angel City keeper Didi Haracic came off her line and in trying to make the save, got her hands on Huitema’s cleats forcing her to the ground. Initially, the call was goal kick for Angel City, but referee Trevor Wiseman soon got the call from VAR to take another look at the play, and it was determined that Haracic’s contact with Huitema was egregious enough to warrant a Seattle penalty, which Sofia Huerta converted in the 31st minute.

Having gotten themselves back into the match, the Reign then took control. First, Seattle took the lead in first half stoppage time, as Shae Holmes crossed into the penalty area, Huitema headed a ball down to Ji So-Yun, and the South Korean legend took a touch, then curled a ball that got past Haracic near post to give Seattle the lead. The Reign then padded its lead in the second half, as Ana-Marie Cronogorcevic led a Reign fast break from the right side, then crossed into the penalty area. The ball was out of Haracic’s reach, leaving an opening for King to come in at the back post and slot the ball into the back net to double the lead for Seattle.

“We have a few things that we need to clean up,” Angel City defender Sarah Gorden said. “Our transition defensively wasn’t good enough and we had a different starting lineup. We had a few things we needed to figure out as far as knowing where different players are going to be on the field. It kind of showed in our defensive transition.”

Angel City did its best to respond, but again, decisions would hamper such efforts. The first decision occurred in the 67th minute, as Jasmyne Spencer played a ball to Leroux, who then passed to M.A. Vignolia, who fired a left-footed shot from 23 yards out that beat Dickey far post. However, the goal was disallowed, as the officials judged Leroux to be offside when she received Spencer’s pass.

Another key decision occurred in the 85th minute, and it again affected a possible second Angel City goal. Meggie Daugherty-Howard sent a ball into the penalty area, the ball was touched by several players until Madison Hammond sent a ball into the back net. However, Wiseman soon got the call from the VAR booth for a potential foul, and it was determined that Leroux fouled Julia Lester during the sequence, thus the goal was disallowed.

Angel City finally did find a second goal, and it came from the two players responsible of last week’s winning goal against Chicago, and almost in the same exact sequence. M.A. Vignolia crossed into the penalty area and Leroux headed a ball inside the six-yard box into the back net to finally pull Angel City back within a goal. That goal however occurred in the 98th minute, and while Angel City still had about three minutes left in the 12 minutes of stoppage time, Seattle was ultimately able to hang on.