LOS ANGELES — They scored early. They scored late. And that was enough for the North Carolina Courage to defeat Angel City FC 2-1 on Saturday.
“Giving up these late losses is really tough, and to give them up at home in front of our fans is double tough,” Angel City midfielder Madison Hammond said. “It’s one of those things where you look back at the performance and I feel it was an entertaining game for the fans, but to give up a goal in the first minute and a goal in the last minute, that’s a mentality thing.”
A stoppage time goal at BMO Stadium in the 95th minute by Courage midfielder Brianna Pinto capped a mad scramble in front of the Angel City net that ended a frustrating night for the players as well as new head coach Alex Straus.
“It’s the worst feeling in the world to lose football matches,” Straus said. “It hurts deep when we lose like we did today, and that pain is a part of it if you’re going to go win this type of football matches. You need to feel that pain, and we need to learn we don’t want to be there again. This is very, very important if we’re going to be a team that wins more games than we do at the moment.
“I’m not used to it, and I don’t want to get used to it. This is why you have to change, and we have to change quick.”
Coming off a poor season for Angel City in 2024, Straus, who assumed the role on June 1, stressed breaking old habits and trends to see results go their way.
Instead of reasoning away why success currently eludes Angel City, Straus aims to “open all the closets and get everything out of those closets and start working instead of trying to hide something. We need to be honest with ourselves and be transparent. At the moment, we’re not good enough. And if we acknowledge that, instead of looking at excuses, then we can get better. But if you try to find narratives or other things that aren’t in the real world, then it doesn’t help us to take the next step. We are where we are now, and it is not new.”
In the two weeks Straus has led Angel City, players received plenty of new information while leaning into the roster’s positives, including individual talent capable of exposing opposing teams.
“So we’re not trying to change who we are in that way on an individual basis,” Hammond said. “I think we’re just trying to evolve who we are and evolve what kind of football we want to play. I think one of the biggest things is just becoming a winning club.”
For Straus, that starts with seeking more control in possession, playing higher up the field to attack dangerous spaces and ultimately making better decisions to create quality chances.
“I’m not here to coach – let’s make that really really clear – people switching on from the start,” said the 49-year-old Norwegian, who led the Bayern Munich women for the past three seasons. “I’m not that coach. I’ll try to give them solutions. I’ll try to help them build an identity.”
Over possession-dominant North Carolina’s previous two matches, also on the road, the Courage combined for 11 goals with their hosts. Unfortunately for the two-time NWSL champions, they conceded eight times at San Diego and Washington D.C., losing twice ahead of a showdown with Angel City.
Attempting to avoid a fate similar to its last two games, the visitors jumped out of the blocks and grabbed the lead in 42 seconds.
Before an announced crowd of 14,933 could settle in, the Courage pushed the ball down the left flank, where Angel City captain Sarah Gorden mistimed an interception. That allowed Shinomi Koyama the chance she needed to feed fellow Japanese player Manaka Matsukubo, whose cross connected with a sliding Cortnee Vine at the six-yard box for the Australian’s first goal of the year.
Playing its second match under Straus after earning a draw in his debut last week against Chicago, the shock start did not rattle ACFC (4-5-3). Ten minutes later, Angel City sensation Riley Tiernan connected on her seventh goal in 12 appearances, tying her for the third-most scores by an NWSL rookie.
Tiernan needs five goals over Angel City’s remaining 14 league games to break the rookie record of 11. Her equalizing header at the far post against the Courage (4-5-3) came off a perfect delivery from Gisele Thompson, who worked a give-and-go to free up space down the right side before her fourth assist.
Early fireworks gave way to an open match until Pinto’s late game winner. North Carolina hit eight of its 20 shots on target, while Angel City managed to do the same on two of its 12 attempts.
As the hour mark approached, Vine tried to return the favor following Matsukubo’s assist to her in the opening seconds. The forward duo worked through ACFC defense, leading to a one-on-one encounter deep in the box against goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, who sprawled to deny Matsukubo a fifth goal in four matches.
A couple minutes later, Angel City was on the run, when a back-heel by Tiernan along the left sideline freed Alyssa Thompson to barrel down three quarters of the pitch into the box, where her shot was deflected for a corner kick.
Anderson again kept it level in the 82nd minute, denying a shot off the foot of Ashley Sanchez before getting help from M.A. Vignola, who blocked what looked like a sure-thing rebound effort.
Then those efforts fell by the wayside in the end.
“You need to sacrifice your life to avoid a goal if you’re going to go from being mid-table or not or to win,” Straus said. “Because this point in the end could be the difference between making the playoffs or not.
“This is the mentality we need to work on.”
