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Angel City FC looking to maintain momentum

June 24, 2023

A lot has changed since the last time Angel City Football Club played a home game.

Freya Coombe has been replaced as coach by assistant coach Becki Tweed and, for the first time since early May, Angel City will be looking for a second consecutive win.

Last week’s 2-1 win over rival San Diego Wave FC snapped a six-game winless streak across league and Challenge Cup competitions.

Sunday, Angel City hosts the Houston Dash (5 p.m., Paramount+, Bally Sports SoCal) at BMO Stadium.

“We’ve been speaking about how it isn’t just 11 players,” Tweed said. “We need to find a way to come together collectively as 26 players to really put on a performance. Along with focusing on how we can support each other and bring energy into every moment.”

Last Saturday’s win moved Angel City (3-6-3) to 12 points in the NWSL standings. As of the start of the week, that was six points behind sixth place and the final playoff berth.

“We need to continue to grow and continue to be the best version of ourselves,” Tweed said. “This is an incredible group of players. We need to know that we can go toe to toe with anybody in this league, we just have to remain focused.

“Momentum is something that’s really important. This league is crazy and picking up back-to-back points is something that’s really important and it can really push you on in the league. Our goal is to pick up points in back-to-back games and keep moving forward.”

Houston has scored the fewest goals (10) in the league, but has also allowed the fewest (10). The Dash currently sits in seventh place (4-3-5, 17 points).

“They’re like a workhorse team,” Angel City defender Jasmyne Spencer said. “They’re going to apply a lot of pressure and are very organized. We’ve been working all week on how we can find ways to break them down and also contain their offensive threats.”

After Sunday’s game, Angel City will have a quick turnaround before Wednesday’s Challenge Cup game at home against Wave FC at 7:30 p.m. Angel City is in last place (one point) in the West Division for the Challenge Cup. Wave FC is tied with Portland at three points. This will be Angel City’s fourth of six games in the Challenge Cup.

World Cup send-off

This will be the last game for Alyssa Thompson and Julie Ertz before the FIFA World Cup. Both players will join the U.S. national team for a training camp starting Monday, leading up to a July 9 send-off game in San Jose against Wales.

Angel City has three games (July 29, Aug. 5 and Aug. 19) during the duration of the World Cup (July 20-Aug. 20).