Angel City FC plays to 1-1 draw with Kansas City Current

Angel City FC played to a 1-1 draw Saturday on the road against the Kansas City Current.

Angel City took an early lead when midfielder Taylor Suarez scored her first professional goal on an assist from Carina Lageyre 14 minutes into the match.

“[Lageyre] is a great passer and has great vision, so I knew that if I could find myself in the right spot, she would [get] me the ball, and that’s exactly what she did,” Suarez said. “She played me a perfect through ball, and I knew I had to finish it right then and there.”

Kansas City evened the match at the 26 minute mark when striker Haley Hopkins scored on an assist from Izzy Rodriguez.

Angel City had won three of its previous four games and gained a point to remain in playoff position in the NWSL standings with 23 points. The club moved to 3-1-1 under the tenure of interim coach Leif Gunnar Smerud.

“It was good to get that point, and on an away trip, it felt important and good for the mentality and the spirit of the group as well,” Smerud said, adding, “It’s a skill to play these away games against good teams, and this was a confirmation of the character of the group.”

The Current had won just once in its past four games, but was tied for fourth place after the draw.

Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson made six saves, including pushing away a rising shot from Kansas City attacker Amelia White in the 33rd minute to preserve the tie. She also had a key stop on Kansas City midfielder Croix Bethune in the 76th minute. Anderson dove to her left to deny Bethune with both hands and then kept the Current from capitalizing on the follow-up attempt.

Angel City will play its next match at the Seattle Reign FC at Lumen Field at 6 p.m. Sunday, August 9. The match will be televised on ESPN.