Match Preview: Angel City FC vs. Washington Spirit
Banc of California Stadium | Los Angeles, California – Wednesday, September 21 at 10:30PM ET
Players to watch:
In Angel City’s loss to San Diego on Saturday, midfielder Savannah McCaskill had a penalty saved with a chance to tie the game in the 74th minute, her second miss in four attempts this season. Only Lo’eau LaBonta (6) and Alex Morgan (5) have attempted more, while Mallory Pugh is the only other player this season with two penalty misses (three attempts). McCaskill has still been part of Angel City’s major attacking force, though, as prior to the last two games the midfielder had scored every other week dating back to July 2.
Washington forwards Tara McKeown and Ashley Hatch both found the back of the net against Gotham on Saturday and have been a large part of Washington’s three-game unbeaten run (W2 D1). Attacker Ashley Sanchez has contributed to a goal in each of the three games as well (1G 2A), while McKeown has scored in each of the last two games.
Match facts: Angel City FC returns home to face the Washington Spirit to round out a four-game slate across the league on Wednesday night. The hosts are still in search of a playoff position and currently sit one spot outside the race, though a win would bring them within a point of sixth-place Chicago on the same amount of games played (20).
Angel City is returning to the Banc after a five-game road trip, the club’s longest in its brief history, and were held scoreless in its last two games after losing to North Carolina and San Diego each by a 1-0 scoreline. However, the club has yet to lose a game where it returns home after an away match (W2 D2) and has gone scoreless just once in those games.
On the other side, Washington is on a winning streak for the first time this season, scoring a combined six goals in the two games after going winless its previous 17 games. Interestingly, the Spirit have never scored more than six games in a two-game span in their NWSL history (including playoffs).
In May, Angel City beat Washington, 1-0, in the only matchup between these teams to date. It was Angel City’s first road match in a regular season game as they handed Washington its first loss of the season.
