Angel City falls 3-2 to Orlando Pride on the road

Angel City FC has added another loss to the books, this time falling 3-2 against reigning NWSL champions Orlando Pride. Despite leading early on with two goals by Riley Tiernan and Katie Zelem, Los Angeles’s defense couldn’t hold back Orlando’s momentum in the second half. 

Angel City started strong. An early ninth-minute goal by rookie Tiernan put the visitors first on the scoreboard. Tiernan revived a pass from midfielder Kennedy Fuller and then continued up the left wing, cutting inside past a defender, and dribbling into the box, taking an angled shot that sailed past goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse at the near post and into the net.

The goal marks Tiernan’s second goal in two games. It is the third of her professional career since joining ACFC as a non-roster invite during the preseason. Tiernan currently leads all NWSL rookies in goal contributions. 

For the remainder of the first half, both teams battled for control of the midfield. Both sides had promising chances but were blocked away by the opposing keepers. 

Angel City’s next success came in the 44th minute with a combination goal off a corner kick. Claire Emslie sent the ball into the six-yard line, where it pinged around the box before landing under possession of Zelem. She sent a left-footed shot to the back of the net and doubled the lead. Zelem had previous chances earlier in the night but had struggled to capitalize on them. She scored her first goal with the club. 

“To be honest, I was starting to think I was jinxed, because I've missed about three sitters before. I was happy to finally put one in the back of the net. Set pieces are something we'd worked on in the first and second phase, so it was nice that it fell to me in the box and I was able to finish it,” said Zelem when asked about her goal. 

Heading into half-time Angel City seemed confident and connected, something that last week’s match failed to showcase. Orlando had struggled to find an offensive rhythm. That seemed to change after exiting the locker room. 

In the 72nd minute, defender Oihane assisted with a pass to Marta who redirected in and found the back of the net. Marta’s goal narrowed down the gap and added fuel to Orlando’s already growing momentum. 

Four minutes later, the Pride equalized in the 76th minute when defender Carson Pickett kept a play started by Oihane alive, sending the ball directly to Barbra Banda. The forward headed the ball, keeping Orlando in the running. 

The game winner for Orlando came in the 93rd minute when Pickett served a diagonal ball into the box. Watt made a run across the six, with M.A Vignola marking her. The ball bounced off the chest of Vignola and into the back of the net, pushing the home side ahead.

chest of Vignola and into the back of the net, pushing the home side ahead.

It was a tough result to see, dropping Angel City to sixth place in league standings with a 2-2-2 record. 

“It's always difficult when you concede two goals close together. We knew a draw here would also have been a great result,” said Zelem. 

“They are champions for a reason. They have some good players who can change games quickly. They started piling on the pressure, and we needed to just tighten up on defending in the box. That's a focus of ours now and going forward.”

Angel City remains on the road facing the Washington Spirit on Friday, May 2, at 5:00 pm.