Angel City comes up short against Portland

Back from a long international break, Angel City found itself in a position it had rarely been in; an early-season matchup between teams sitting atop the league’s top four in the standings.

While Angel City had almost never been in this position before, their opponent, the Portland Thorns, had been there countless times, and that experience amongst its roster proved to be the difference in the match. Portland bided its time, then struck at the right time, as late second half goals from Pietra Tordin and Sophia Wilson powered the Thorns to the 2-1 win at BMO Stadium.

“We need to come out of these games winning,” Head Coach Alex Straus said. “But the mistakes were too big, and we need to minimize those areas.”

With the win, Portland (4-1-1, 13 points) maintains its spot amongst the top four in second place, two points behind the league-leading San Diego wave. Angel City (3-2-0, nine points) fall out of the top five, but not by much, as they are a point behind the Seattle Reign.

 Olivia Moultrie sent a corner kick into the penalty area, Ary Borges cleared the ball, but it went to M.A. Vignolia, who then headed a ball back into the box, Carolyn Calzada headed the ball into the six-yard box and Tordin got behind Angel City defender Evelyn Shores and sent a header past keeper Angelina Anderson into the back net to finally break the deadlock.

The Thorns held the lead into stoppage time, then virtually sealed the match in the 95th minute. Anderson left the penalty area in an attempt to stop a Portland attack. Sam Hiatt regained possession for Portland, played a ball to Wilson, who dribbled into the penalty area, and fired a left-footed shot that beat Anderson far post to make it a two goal lead for the Thorns. Wilson’s goal ended up being the winning goal for Thorns, as Prisca Chilufya scored off an Emily Sams cross to give Angel City a bit of hope, but ultimately, Portland was able to hold on for the win.

“Coming in the second half, we were the better team,” Chilufya said. “It’s just about doing the fundamental things and sticking to the plan.”

Fortunately for Angel City, Sunday’s match was the start of a three-match homestand, with match number two coming on May 2 against the Utah Royals.