After a pair of hard-fought road draws, Angel City Football Club returns home to BMO Stadium to face the best of the NWSL.
First up is Sunday’s clash against third-place Washington Spirit.
The Spirit (11-5-3, 36 points) are tied with the Utah Royals for second place, seven points behind first-place Gotham FC, which is next week’s Angel City opponent.
Angel City is riding its own wave of positive momentum having bounced back from a 2-1 loss against Racing Louisville FC with a pair of draws against the Kansas City Current (1-1) and Seattle Reign FC (2-2).
In six games under interim coach Leif Smerud, Angel City has only one loss (3-1-2). The team is averaging just under two points a game since the NWSL restart.
“Two points an average, we should be happy with,” Smerud said before last week’s trip to Seattle. “I think we’ve found a way to get points. I think we’ve played some good football and other times, like we played in San Diego (a 2-0 victory July 11), we had to dig deep, but I think overall, the results and performances have been good.”
Angel City is one of three teams that have allowed fewer than 20 goals this season (19). The Spirit, led by Newport Beach native Trinity Rodman, possess one of the top attacks, with 29 goals. Rodman is third in the league with nine goals. Rodman has three goals in her career against Angel City.
Last year’s meetings provided fireworks. The teams played to a 2-2 draw Sept. 18 at BMO Stadium. In May, Angel City survived a 4-3 slugfest thanks to Riley Tiernan’s eighth-minute stoppage time goal.
Angel City fell out of a playoff spot after Seattle’s 1-0 win over Chicago on Saturday. Angel City is currently in ninth place.
A look at the Angel City’s attendance
Angel City has played nine home games so far this season.
The lowest attended game was 11,574 on May 20 against the Kansas City Current. The highest attendance (17,169) came May 9 against San Diego Wave FC. The season average to date is 15,237, which is ranked fourth highest in the league.
Including Sunday, Angel City has six home games remaining, with the final one of the regular season being played Nov. 1 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Last year, in a 13-game home schedule, Angel City averaged 16,256 per game.
Roster update
Angel City recently added Jennie Immethun in a trade with the Portland Thorns. Immethun is signed to an “initial short-term roster relief” contract through Sept. 6. Immethun began her college career at Loyola Marymount and then transferred to TCU and finished at UCLA.
Also, goalkeeper Meagan McClelland was signed to a short-term contract last week.
WASHINGTON SPIRIT at ANGEL CITY FC
When: 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: BMO Stadium
How to watch: ESPN