CARSON, Calif. — Angel City FC closed its regular season with a 4-1 win over Boston Legacy FC on Sunday evening at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Angel City took the lead in the 16th minute, when Nealy Martin scored her first goal of the NWSL season off a pass from Ally Sentnor.
Boston's Aïssata Traoré tried to tie it in the 28th minute with a shot from outside the box, but Sarah Gorden blocked it. In the 37th minute, Amanda Gutierres pulled Boston level, finding an opening after Traoré won the ball back.
Boston Legacy, 13th in the standings, had 58% of possession and nine shots, and the teams went into halftime tied 1-1.
"We didn't finish the first half the way we wanted, but we went into the locker room and made some tactical adjustments," Martin said. "We decided to be better individually. So we came back out in the second half and did a lot better."
Evelyn Shores, Sveindís Jónsdóttir and Claire Emslie each scored in the second half to put the game away.
In the 53rd minute, Shores headed in a cross from Jónsdóttir to give Angel City the lead.
Jónsdóttir made it 3-1 in the 72nd minute. Sentnor started the play from midfield and found Taylor Suarez, who crossed into the box for Jónsdóttir to finish.
Suarez thought she had made it 4-1 in the 79th minute, but her goal was ruled out for offside. Coach Leif Gunnar Smerud praised her growth as a scorer and playmaker.
"As Suarez is playing as a winger, she has an incredible capacity to create separation and has worked on finishing her plays. When she starts scoring goals, she will be very difficult to stop," Smerud said.
Suarez got an assist five minutes later, sending a through ball to Emslie, who scored her first goal for Angel City in the 84th minute.
In the 89th minute, Hannah Seabert came on for her final minutes with Angel City. She announced her retirement Oct. 29.
The win extended Angel City's unbeaten streak to 10 games.
"We've come together as a group and we have been very clear on how to approach the games. We started in a challenging position and we were pressured along the way," Smerud said. "But we dealt with the pressure very well."
Angel City (14-7-8, 49 points) will play its first playoff game as the No. 5 seed against the Kansas City Current (15-5-9, 50 points) on Nov. 7 at CPKC Stadium.
"Kansas is a really good team, we know that. We also trust our game plan and trust our players. We trust our staff to prepare us, so we will be ready," Emslie said.