Angel City falls 2-3 against Racing Louisville in Sam Laity's last match

LOS ANGELES — Angel City FC fell 2-3 at home against Racing Louisville FC during an eventful night with goals from young stars Alyssa Thompson and Riley Tiernan. Saturday's match was Sam Laity's last night as interim head coach and a night of milestones, including the team's 100th NWSL Regular Season goal scored in club history. 

Angel City fell behind early in the night. In the 23rd minute, Louisville lit up the scoreboard first from a penalty kick goal by Taylor Flint, after midfielder Macey Hodge was flagged for a handball inside the box. Although Los Angeles responded with a chance in the 32nd minute created by Gisele Thompson's shot on target, it was saved by Louisville goalkeeper Jordyn Bloomer. It was a pattern that repeated frequently throughout the night as Angel City struggled to capitalize on the seven shots on target out of the 14 total taken. 

Los Angeles finally made an appearance on the board in the 48th minute. Rookie Tiernan added another goal to her stat sheet after receiving a quick pass from Gisele Thompson, who earned her third regular-season assist. The breakout star dribbled through several defenders, sinking the ball in the left upper 90 of the net to mark her sixth career goal. 

Tiernan celebrated by pointing out the #3 on her wristband as a shoutout to defender Savy King who was recently discharged from the hospital after an in-match non-contract injury two weeks ago. Saturday was the first home game for Angel City since King collapsed in the May 9 game against the Utah Royals. 

“In the first half it was a little tough for us to find connections. We were not finding the right spaces. It wasn't very fluid and we were very disconnected from our lines. In the second half, we knew that we had to come out and put a different level out there. So starting the attack and fixing those problems, to make it more fluid and finding those open spaces that we were not really finding in the first half helped us a little bit. We fell off and the momentum shifted back. It was a little tough for us to get back to it,” said Tiernan. 

ACFC struggled offensively and defensively for much of the night. The team's backline couldn't seem to catch up, leaving crucial gaps for the visitors to exploit. Emma Sears was able to catch the back line off guard in the 53rd minute after converting a header from teammate Arin Wright sent a header into the box off a corner kick. Three minutes later, forward Kayla Fischer dribbled the ball down the center of the pitch, sneaking the pass left to USC alum Savannah DeMelo, who scored to give them a two-goal lead. 

“ We didn’t do our jobs on set pieces. They scored on it, so that took the wind out of us a little bit.  It was a very discombobulated performance. I'm disappointed that I'm leaving the team in that position for Alex,” said Laity. 

Despite falling behind, Angel City put on a show. The second half saw Madison Hammond earn a penalty after being tackled to the ground on a corner kick, which Thompson converted to a goal in the 68th minute, and the ref issued a red card to Louisville’s Kaya Fischer. Thompson's pen marked her 14th career regular-season goal and the club's first penalty kick goal of the 2025 season. 

With nine minutes of stoppage time added at the 90th minute mark, ACFC fought hard to equalize the match but couldn't secure the match draw. “We looked lively. We were lucky to go into the game only one nil at halftime, to be honest here. I thought maybe the soccer gods were going to be on our side for the second half when we scored a decent goal with a good finish from Riley. And then you think, right now we're at home. Now we got our tails up. Now they're on the back foot a little bit," said Laity on the team's overall performance. 

Angel City sits seventh on the league table with a (4-2-4) record at 14 points. The club is back after the International FIFA Window, taking on Chicago Stars FC for the club’s Pride Celebration on Saturday, June 7, for the second of a three-match stint at home.