Dash steals win from Angel City in stoppage time

Heading into Saturday’s match against the Houston Dash with some momentum, Angel City found themselves in position to make it three match unbeaten streak in Houston, as they were tied with the Dash with the match heading into stoppage time.

However, the Dash committed thievery late in the match, as Maggie Graham’s goal in the first minute of stoppage time denied Angel City the chance to continue accumulating points, and Houston defeated Angel City 2-1 at Shell Energy Stadium.

“Every game we play is pretty even, and most of the games, we have better numbers than the opponents,” Angel City head coach Alex Straus said, “We need to fix those things, those behaviors, to keep the structure, to stay organized for 94 minutes and make the right decisions. That’s what’s keeping us from being a top team.”

Leah Klenke sent a ball forward that got through the Angel City defense,, Kate Faasse timed her run just right to stay onside and chase down the ball into the penalty area, Faasse played a ball to Rader, who took a touch to evade Gisele Thompson, then slotted a left-footed shot inside the six-yard box past keeper Angelina Anderson into the back net.

Angel City however caught a break in the 25th minute. Maiara Nieheus sent a ball forward, Kennedy Fuller chased down the ball into the penalty area, Klenke was right behind her, Fuller beat Klenke to the ball, Klenke pushed Fuller down from behind and referee Muhammad Kaleia awarded Angel City the penalty. Niehues stepped up to the spot and sent the shot to her left,, and while Dash keeper Caroline DeLisle guessed right, Nieheus put enough on the shot to get the ball into the back net for the equalizer.

“[Niehues] is great at it, and she’s just so composed. That’s exactly who you want taking a [penalty kick]for your team,” Fuller said. “And it was right after we conceded, and so we needed it, and she just put it in the back of the net.”

Houston however turned out to have one more goal in them at just the right time. It happened in the 91st minute, as Danielle Colaprico sent a ball forward for Clarissa Larisey, but Larisey instead dummied a ball, and Graham outraced the Angel City defense to the ball, then she fired a left-footed shot at the line of the 18-yard box, and the shot beat Anderson far post to give the Dash the lead for good.

Angel City plays its final match of the first half of the season next Sunday when they host the North Carolina Courage.