It was a tale of two halves for Angel City FC on Saturday night.
The first half saw Angel City fall behind three minutes in and ultimately by two goals, with the goals coming from Savannah Demelo and Kristen Davis, forcing Angel City to chase the match. Angel City however answered the call in the second half, dominating possession, coming back with goals from Katie Johnson and Savannah McCaskill and almost getting the win late in the match from Alyssa Thompson that was foiled by the framework. Nevertheless, Angel City will settle for the point in the wake of its 2-2 draw at BMO Stadium.
“We definitely showed the grit our team has, and that we will fight to the end,” Johnson said. “We never gave up. That’s a really important characteristic and value to have for a team that we can build off of.”
Louisville caught a break three minutes in as Savannah DeMelo was tackled by M.A. Vignolia inside the right corner of the penalty area and the referee signaled Louisville to the penalty spot. DeMelo stepped up the spot and sent the shot straight to the upper back net as keeper Didi Haracic dove to her right. DeMelo nearly had a brace in the 13th minute, as she deked Dani Weatherholt inside the penalty area, then fired the shot that while it beat Haracic, did not beat the framework, as the shot hit off the near post. Louisville eventually did double its lead in the 32nd minute, as a Jaelin Howell slide tackle regained posaession for Racing, Howell passed to DeMelo, who then passed to Kristen Davis, who made a cutting move before firing a left-footed volley just outside the penalty area that sailed past Haracic far post.
Angel City looked to answer the call. Angel City got its chance in the 44th minute, as a left-footed volley from Claire Emslie from about 22 yards out went off the crossbar. Angel City head coach then made several substitutions prior to the start of the second half, inserting Ali Riley and Alyssa Thompson, both of whom had been away on national team duty this past week, into the starting 11. Angel City did not get on the board though until the 66th minute, as they had a free kick just outside the penalty area on the right side, Savannah McCaskill sent the set piece into the box and Katie Johnson sent the shot past Katie Lund into the back net to get Angel City back in to the match.
Angel City now pressed for the equalizer and got it in the 87th minute. Thompson sent a ball into the penalty area, Louisville’s Rebecca Holloway cut off the ball, but it fell to McCaskill, who let the ball bounce inside the penalty area, then took a shot that bounced inside six, skipped past Lund and into the far post net to level the match. It was one thing to come back from two goals down to tie, but Angel City was not satisfied, and had a chance to steal all three points in the 90th minute, as Johnson played Thompson forward, Thompson took the ball to the six, then fired a shot that hit off the near post and went into the arms of Lund.
“We just didn’t show up like we needed to in the first half,” McCaskill said. “From an individual and a collective standpoint, the energy wasn’t there, and we didn’t do what we needed to do, both on and off the ball. Everyone saw in the second half, fatigue wasn’t an issue. We had the energy, we had everything that we needed to go and get two goals back. That’s just something that we have to focus on as a group going forward, that it’s not a fatigue issue.”
Angel City will do its best on Wednesday night to ensure that fatigue is not a factor in its first NWSL Challenge Cup matchup against OL Reign.
