2023 season in review: Angel City FC.
Beginning its second season, Angel City again had high hopes. After just missing out on the playoffs, but playing to capacity crowds in all of its home games, Angel City looked to deliver results on the field. During the offseason, general manager Angela Hucles Magano had maneuvered to acquire the number one pick in the 2023 NWSL College Draft, which was used in high school phenom Alyssa Thompson, then during the season, the team signed midfielder Julie Ertz hoping she could fill a void in the Central Defensive Midfield position.
The start of the season was underwhelming. Angel City dropped its season opener to at home to Gotham NY/NJ FC, recovered to defeat Orlando in the final minutes the following week, then spent the next two months treading water. While Angel City were getting points and staying in the thick of the playoff race, there where troubling signs the team was not right. Angel City did not get its first home win of the season until its fifth match in all competitions, which was May 7 against Kansas City, and its leading scorer from last season, Savannah McCaskill, had yet to find the back of the net.
The low point of the season came during a stretch from May 27 to June 10. It started when Angel City lost to Seattle Reign FC (back then known as OL Reign), a game that saw the Reign erase a 1-0 deficit with four unanswered goals and worse off, the team lost midfielder Jun Endo to a knee injury while playing out of position as a left back. Then in its next match, Angel City rallied from a two-goal deficit against Portland, but allowed the Thorns to snatch a late winner, then came perhaps the bottom, as Angel City lost at home to a Chicago Red Stars team that was near the bottom of the standings. When the team lost on the road to Washington on June 10, management decided this was the moment for a shakeup, as the team dismissed head coach Freya Coombe four days later. At the time of her dismissal, Angel City was 2-6-3 and sitting in 11th place in the 12-team league.
The team handed over the reins over to Becki Tweed on an interim basis. Her head-coaching debut came on June 17 on the road against a strong San Diego Wave FC side. Angel City fell behind 1-0, but Paige Neilsen equalized in the 69th minute, then M.A. Vignolia scored late in the match to give Angel City the upset win and Tweed the win in her debut. What followed next was unprecedented, as the team over the next two months became the hottest team in the league, reeling off a 12-match unbeaten streak across all competitions that vaulted Angel City back into the playoff race.
The streak came to an end on October 2 against Orlando, and the following week they trailed at halftime against the Houston Dash, but goals from Thompson and McCaskill, who by then had rediscovered her scoring touch, gave Angel City its biggest win to date. Angel City then routed Portland 5-1 in the regular season finale, and all five goals were needed, as the win combined with a North Carolina Courage win against Washington propelled Angel City into the playoffs and a matchup with the Reign in Seattle. The match was scoreless, but Seattle scored late to get the win, ending Angel City’s roller coaster season.
The team now looks ahead to 2024. Management started by rewarding Tweed for the second-half run and subsequent playoff berth by removing the interim tag, making her the full-time head coach. There will be challenges, as the team lost McCaskill to San Diego, but resigned key players such as Sarah Gorden. The team will look to players like Endo and Claire Emslie to fill the void left by McCaskill’s departure, and will hopefully welcome back Christen Press, who has missed the last season and a half while recovering from an ACL tear.
Angel City FC