Angel City rebounds with rout of Boston Legacy

Not a bad way to bounce back for Angel City.

Five days after falling 2-0 on the road to the North Carolina Courage, Angel City faced an important match against the first-year Boston Legacy, knowing another loss may seriously damage its playoff hopes. Angel City however responded in a huge way on Monday night, as they got an opening goal five minutes in, then after conceding, asserted themselves to the tune of three straight goals, and Angel City rode its scoring burst to a 5-2 win at Gillette Stadium.

I’m happy with how we showed that on the pitch; it’s what we trained this whole week,” Angel City forward Prisca Chilufya said. “That’s what we need moving forward.”

Chilufya was the star for Angel City, as she got a brace in the match, and goals from Ally Sentnor, Sveindis Jonsdottir and Maiara Nieheus allowed Angel City (8-8-5, 29 points) to pull to within two points of the Seattle Reign for the last NWSL playoff spot.

“This was a big game for us,” Angel City Interim Head Coach Leif Smerud said. “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 and Prisca, and we managed to do that. Really happy and proud of the performance tonight. It was dominant.”

The first 10 minutes looked like the match would become a shootout. Angel City opened the scoring in the fifth minute, as Evelyn Shores went short on a corner kick, Sentnor, who was raised in nearby Hanson MA, eventually made it a happy homecoming, as she took a touch, then fired a left-footed shot just outside the penalty area, and the shot beat keeper Laurel Ivory near post to give Angel City the early lead. Boston however had a response three minutes later, as Nichelle Prince played a ball to Sammy Smith, and Smith fired a left-footed shot just inside the 18-yard box, and the ball got past keeper Angelina Anderson at the back post for a sudden equalizer.

However, from that point on, it was all Angel City. Angel City retook the lead in the 14th minute with a little bit of luck, as Chilufya fired a right-footed shot just outside the 18, the ball took a deflection, which ended up benefitting Angel City, as the ball got post Ivory at the far post for Chilufya’s first goal of the match. Jonsdottir doubled the Angel City advantage four minutes later, as Gisele Thompson sent a long ball forward, the pass spring Jonsdottir down the right side, Jonsdottir got behind Legacy defender Emerson Elgin, took the ball towards the end line and despite the tight angle, fired a right-footed shot that deflected off Ivory and went into the back net to make it a two-goal Angel City advantage. Angel City almost had a three-goal advantage heading into halftime, as Ivory redirected an Emily Sams header off the crossbar.

Angel City eventually got that three goal lead in the second half. It came in the 58th minute, as Jonsdottir forced a turnover, played a ball to Chilufya, who touched into the penalty area, then fired a right-footed shot for the near post, Ivory made the save but left a rebound inside the 18, and Chilufya tracked down the ball and fired the rebound chance past Ivory into the back net. Angel City capped off the scoring in the 65th minute, as Sentnor touched a ball to Nieheus, and Nieheus, who was making her return to the Angel City first team on Monday night, fired a right-f0oted volley past Ivory into the back net. Not even a late Boston goal from AïssataTraoré could spoil a wonderful night for Angel City.

“[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.”

Angel City returns east this coming Saturday, this time to the Bluegrass State to face Racing Louisville.