After losing the final game in July to then-last-place Racing Louisville, Angel City faithful didn’t have a lot to look forward to in August, as a stacked schedule had them facing some of the league’s perennial best teams.
Kansas City Current, who closed out 2025 with the best record in the NWSL and 17 consecutive undefeated matches. Seattle Reign, who had the best record in ’22 and won it all in ’23. Washington Spirit and Trinity Rodman, a combination that no team takes lightly. Gotham FC, who went on a tear after the international break and hasn’t lost since Independence Day.
Spoiler alert: Angel City somehow managed draws against all four teams.
But before we get to the recap, the news that was probably more welcoming to ACFC fans: the return of a legend and legend-in-the-making, Sydney Leroux and Savy King.
The pair made their return on August 16, late in the game against the Washington Spirit. King came on in the 66th minute, while Leroux came in three minutes into second-half stoppage.
For Leroux, it had been 654 days since she last stepped onto the pitch, and 519 since announcing on social media that she was stepping away from soccer for her mental health. In November, she expanded on that, disclosing that she’d been diagnosed with anorexia and was undergoing treatment.
“I refuse to let my fear continue to keep me quiet,” she said at the time.
For King, it was her second return of sorts for the season. After suffering a mid-game cardiac event in May of ’25 against the Utah Royals, she underwent open-heart surgery for a previously undetected congenital heart defect. That sidelined her until March, when she returned against Chicago. Quickly back up to full minutes, she suffered a lower-leg/foot injury during training in April, putting her back on the bench.
Although the two didn’t have any material impact on the game, the morale boost was evident in the stadium-shaking cheers with which the two were greeted. King would go on to play 30 minutes the week after against Gotham, while Leroux dressed for the game, but didn’t enter.
On to the recaps, starting with an away match against Kansas City. If you had to define home-field advantage, it almost certainly has to be playing in a custom-built stadium. Being the first such stadium for women’s soccer has to add to the advantage; indeed, the facility played a significant role in the first episode of Season 4 of Ted Lasso, which happened to air a few days after the game.
Despite the pressure of facing what was currently the top team, it was Angel City who struck first.
Rookie Taylor Suarez scored her first professional goal in the 14th minute, as fellow rookie Carina Lageyre slotted a pass through traffic to the bottom of the arc. With two defenders closing in, Suarez took her shot as she went to the ground, finding the inside of the left post.
Kansas City brought it back to even in the 26th minute, as Haley Hopkins intercepted a cross from Izzy Rodriguez mid-flight to find the back of the net. Kanas City had a number of chances to move ahead, but Angel City keeper Angelina Anderson met all of them, ending the game with six saves. The Kansas City defense played no small part in keeping L.A. from moving ahead, holding the Angels to a season-low 8 shots for the game.
The road trip continued, moving to Seattle on August 9th to face the Reign. Once again, Angel City was the first to get on the scoreboard, with defender Gisele Thompson taking on three other defenders to score in the 32nd minute. It was Thompson’s fourth goal of the season, tying her with Tatumn Milazzo for the most goals by a defender in ’26.
Angel City would take that lead into the half, but Seattle took no time in reversing the situation, with Sally Menti equalizing in the 50th with an assist from Mia Fishel, then Fishel herself scoring in the 52nd.
The visitors brought it back to even in the 72nd, with Evelyn Shores lobbing a pass over half the field to Prisca Chilufya, and Chilufya lobbing one over the diving arm of Claudia Dickie.
Angel City had a chance to put the game away in the 94th, with Suarez finding Ally Sentnor unmarked on the left wing, but Sentnor’s awkward strike was easily collected by Dickie to wrap up the contest.
ACFC returned home to face Washington Spirit, and it seemed like Sentnor was starting to take things personally. Acquired in July after trading away Kennedy Fuller, she took her first touch the distance and looked like she was going to score after only seconds after donning the Angel City kit. But the shot was blocked, and despite chances like the one in Seattle, Sentor remained goalless since she scored against ACFC while wearing Teal back in June.
That seemed to end in the 32nd minute, when she took a long cross from Chilufya, slipped around Rodman, and sent it to the far side of the net. But after a long review, it was eventually ruled that Chilufya had committed a hand ball violation long before making the pass, and the goal was overturned.
That meant that Washington was the first to get on the board, and to no one’s surprise, it was Rodman who pulled it off. After finding the post in the 24th minute, Rodman finally found the back of the net in the 65th, threading the gap between the crossbar and 6’1” goalie Anderson’s hand.
But Sentnor was still on the pitch, and still hungry for that first goal.
It came in the 85th minute, with her seemingly dribbling until she had literally every Spirit player between her and the goal before looping in a shot from outside the penalty arc that just snuck in past the right post to snatch the victory from the visitors.
Another Sunday, another home game, another August match against the team at the top of the table. Gotham came to Los Angeles on a four-game winning streak. They left empty-handed, victims of a defensive duel that left both teams scoreless for the duration of the contest.
Despite a flurry of shots by both sides, neither could find the back of the net. Gotham had the best shot when another questionable hand ball violation was called on Sarah Gorden, leading to a penalty kick opportunity for the visitors.
Guro Reiten stepped up to the spot to take it, but Anderson read it the whole way, making a diving, one-handed save. NJ/NY had a final gasp right before the end of regulation, but Sam Kerr found the crossbar instead of the net, and Gotham had to settle for only the single point.
Somehow, Angel City’s August still isn’t over. They face a short week, heading to North Carolina to face the Courage on Wednesday, then travel up the coast for a rare Monday game against Boston Legacy FC.
Boston will be the only team not in the top 8 that Angel City faces this month, and with them currently sitting one spot out of the playoffs, they’re going to need to make the most of the opportunity as we enter the last two months of the season.
Article: Richard Height
Photos: Chuck Null
