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Angel City FC forward Riley Tiernan moves the ball up the field during the first half of their NWSL match against Orlando Pride SC on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, at BMO Stadium. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)

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LOS ANGELES — Alex Straus is no longer winless as coach of Angel City Football Club.

He can thank a spirited effort, throughout the team on Thursday night and some late-game magic by Alyssa Thompson.

After a slow and sluggish start, Angel City found life in the second half. It all culminated with a Thompson strike in the 86th minute that Orlando Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse failed to corral, giving the hosts a 1-0 victory at BMO Stadium.

“I felt like when I was in that position throughout the game, I didn’t really take all my 1-v-1 situations,” Thompson said. “We were towards the end of the game, so I just felt like I was going to go and do what I usually do and feint and then try to cut it and score and that’s what I did.

“I feel like I was more isolated in that time before we had runners and everyone, but in that time, I had a little bit of space to take my touch and shoot.”

The win vaults Angel City (5-7-5, 20 points) back near the playoff line in the 14-team NWSL. It was Angel City’s first win since May 9.

Angel City had four shots in the first half, but increased that to 19 in the second half, with their xG (Expected Goals) jumping from 0.29 to 1.02, while the Pride’s dipped from 0.67 to 0.05.

Since Straus took over on June 1, his challenge has been trying to get Angel City up to speed on his style of play, which was effective when he was at Bayern Munich.

The wins didn’t start coming until Thursday, but Angel City had showed the fight to pick up three draws.

Straus spoke about the process on Thursday.

“This is a process, but we need consistency,” he said. “We need to get our best players available week in and week out. That is not just for us, that is for every team. If you look at any team that is successful, they have consistency on the pitch.”

The game Angel City’s first on its home field since June 7. The club had played four consecutive road games, including three since the restart of the league after the month-long summer break.

Orlando (8-5-4, 28 points) nearly had a 2-0 lead inside the first 12 minutes, but Angel City goalkeeper Hannah Seabert came up with a pair of hockey-style kick saves to keep the game scoreless. Seabert finished with her second consecutive shutout.

The game went into halftime thanks to Orlando’s defensive effort. The Pride did a masterful job limiting Angel City’s attackers from getting into dangerous spots.

Angel City was the better team for stretches in the first half, even creating a pair of close chances, but both Madison Hammond and Miyabi were unable to get their chances on goal.

After the intermission, Angel City started to find space against the Pride’s defensive set.

“Today, the performance was really good,” Straus said. “It has not been an easy week. Today we dominated a really good team. What we are doing, the way we are playing, how we control the game, how we build, we wanted to create a lot of chances to get that balance right, and today we did. They played beautifully, and I am very impressed. We just need to be consistent and grow from this.”

Simone Jackson (Redondo Beach, USC) and Ally Lemos (Pasadena, UCLA) both played the first half for Orlando.

Angel City’s bench was limited with three players – Julie Dufour, Alanna Kennedy and Katie Zelem – out due to “excused absences.” Forward Jun Endo (lower leg) missed her second consecutive game.

Angel City did have defender Ali Riley, a fan favorite, back on the game day roster. Riley, who was the team’s first captain, had missed most the majority of the past two seasons recovering from various injuries.

Angel City will return to action Sept. 1 at home against Bay FC.


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