Did someone claim this was a rebuilding year? If so, the rest of the NWSL’s in serious trouble once they complete construction.
Angel City won their third in a row on Friday night, taking on the only other team in the league with a perfect record, the Houston Dash.
The opening-day win against the Chicago Stars could be written off as playing a weak team. The follow-up against Bay FC didn’t change the argument much, as they were just a rung above the Stars at the end of the 2026 season, and their week one win against an expansion team didn’t necessarily earn them any cred.
But Houston is a much more interesting story. Yes, win #2 was at home against another expansion club, Boston Legacy. But win #1 was on the road in San Diego, a team that’s only missed the playoffs once in their existence.
For Angel City faithful, who are probably severely bruised from all the “am-I-dreaming” pinches, the game started with what seemed to be a rude wake-up call: 10 minutes into the game, Avery Patterson sent a long shot to the top of the box. Makenzy Robbe headed a floater to Maggie Graham, who headed it home past ACFC goaltender Angelina Anderson.
L.A. managed to lock it down for the remainder of the first half, but failed to even come close to tying it back up. In what was a true anomaly for the Alex Straus era, they ended the first half with an anemic three shots, none of which were on goal.
Then Straus must have given the halftime speech to end all halftime speeches, because a completely different team came onto the pitch to start the second half.
80 seconds in, Sveindís Jónsdóttir took a throw-in. With flashbacks to the Dash goal, Maiara Niehues headed it to Kennedy Fuller, who took a header of her own. Unlike Graham, Fuller’s shot hit the crossbar and bounced out.
But the Dash failed to clear it, and it wound up back at the feet of Jónsdóttir. She took a left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area, and rocketed it past seemingly the entirety of the defense and into the back of the net.
100 seconds later, Gisele Thompson took a pass from Fuller up the right side. Patterson failed to connect with the cross, and Niehues headed it towards Dash goalie Jane Campbell. An off-balance Campbell managed to get a glove on it, but couldn’t haul it in, falling to the back of the net in the process.
Paige Nielsen tried to do what Paige does best—clear the ball when the goalie couldn’t—but failed to pull off the usual magic. An awkward bounce meant a rare whiff for Nielsen, and Riley Tiernan was right there to capitalize on the mistake, tapping the ball in from mere inches off the line.
In just under two minutes, Angel City managed to completely flip the script. And they held on to keep their Hollywood story going.
For now, Angel City gets a week to enjoy the team-record-setting victory before trekking cross-country for what’s objectively their most serious challenge yet: the Orlando Pride. League Champs in 2024, they made it to the playoffs in ’25 and have a 1-1-1 record for the year, starting with a loss and winning in week three.
Jónsdóttir, who was voted NWSL Player of the Week after her brace in week 2 also gets to enjoy her #1 position in the 2026 Golden Boot race.
Houston gets to head home to recover, and will face Racing Louisville on Friday. Louisville has a win and a draw so far this season, but face third-place Seattle Reign on the road on Saturday.
Article and photos : Jim Sabo
