Angel City, Denver Summit trade blows in a wild draw

Friday’s match between Angel City FC and the Denver Summit turned into quite a surreal match.

Sitting ninth and tenth respectively in the NWSL Playoff race, and both well within striking distance of the eighth-place Seattle Reign, Angel City and Denver left everything out on the field to put themselves well in position to gain ground on the Reign. Angel City struck first just before halftime, Denver responded with three unanswered goals, and it looked like they were in control, only to see Angel City responded with two goals of their own to get back in the match. Given all that, perhaps it was fitting that the match ended in a draw 3-3 at BMO Stadium.

“We have to do better in our game management,” Angel City interim head coach Leif Smeurd said. “We tried to play a few passes and we missed them. So it’s nothing bigger than that, but at this level, you get punished. I’m more focused on how we responded because when this happens, in an important game like this, it’s very easy to go down 3-1 down. I’m very happy with how we responded.”

Angel City got goals from Maiara Nieheus, Prisca Chilufya and Ally Sentnor, while Yuzuki Yamamoto, Lindsey Heaps and Janine Sonis found the back net for Denver. In the end, the result was more beneficial to the Reign, as Friday’s result in Los Angeles means Seattle will hold onto the last playoff spot heading into a massive midweek matchup between the two sides in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, with all to be determined is how far the Reign will be ahead of Angel City after the former’s match with Bay FC on Saturday.

Angel City was the more dangerous side in the first half, but it wasn’t until the 45th minute when they finally found the back net. Sarah Gorden beat Melissa Kossler to a ball and sent it forward towards Maiara Nieheus, who chested the ball, which put her in position to shoot, and she did just that, firing a left-footed volley just outside the penalty area, the ball got past keeper Abby Smith at the near post that gave Angel City the lead just before halftime.

“The pace and the ambition and the heart we played with in the first half was great to see,” Smerud said.” We played a bit too quickly, so the speed of the game was almost too good, but I think that is a result of a very strong ambition.”

Denver however caught fire at the start of the second half. The Summit tied the match in the 50th minute, as an Kossler capitalized on an errant pass from Savy King to gain possession for Denver, Kossler passed to Yamamoto, who touched into the penalty area, then slotted a left-footed shot out of the reach of keeper Angelina Anderson to the far post for the equalizer.

Turns out Denver was just getting started. The Summit took the lead just a minute later, as Yazmeen Ryan shot a right-footed volley just outside the penalty area, the shot hit off the crossbar and bounced inside the penalty area, and Heaps came in and buried the rebound chance for her first goal as a member of the Summit, and suddenly Denver was in the lead. The Summit doubled its advantage in the 61st minute, as Sonis sent a right-footed volley from about 30 yards out, and just like Yamamoto’s goal, the ball was perfectly placed, and the shot beat Anderson far post and just like that, Denver was up two goals and seemed to be in control of the match.

Just just as quickly as the tide turned for Denver at the start of the second half, the momentum switched right back to Angel City the remainder of the half. Angel City pulled a goal back, and it started in the 63rd minute when Ary Borges sprung Jonsdottir down the right side, Jonsdottir dribbled into the penalty area, played a ball to Chilufya, who then slotted a right-footed shot just inside the six-yard box into the back net. The goal was initially disallowed due to an offside call, and it was assumed that it was Chilufya was the offside player, as she was well behind the Summit defense when she got the ball. However, referee Brandon Stevis got the call from VAR referee Anya Voigt, turns out that the play under review was Borges’ pass to Jonsdottir, and the replay showed that Jonsdottir was clearly onside when Borges got the pass off, which in turn negated everything that came after, which meant Chilufya’s goal stood, and Denver’s lead was cut to a goal.

“I was going in, and [Smerud] told me, ‘You can change this game,’” Chilufya said. “Not just me, but even Carina [Lageyre]. He told us, ‘You guys are the missing piece of the rest of the game. The team is fighting, and I want you to go in and push the team.’”

Angel City was then gifted an opportunity to level the match. It started in the 72nd minute, as Jonsdottir threw and inbounds pass into the penalty area, the ball bounced inside the six, Sentnor went for the ball as did Denver’s Ayo Oke, but in her attempt to clear the ball out of the penalty area, Oke’s right cleat caught Sentnor in the face, and Stevis immediately signaled Angel City to the penalty spot. Two minutes later, Sentnor sent the penalty to her left, and even as Smith guessed right, Sentnor put enough pace on the shot to get it past Smith to level the match one more time.