**LOS ANGELES, Calif** . – Angel City FC relied on a brace from midfielder Savannah McCaskill to knock off Portland Thorns FC on Saturday night, a result that makes the West Division an even more exciting one heading into the final set of divisional matches. The win for Angel City puts them in 2 ^nd place with 7 points from five games played, while the Thorns are just below the L.A. side in 3 ^rd place with 6 points from their five games.
An end-to-end encounter from the start, Portland opened up play as early as the 4 ^th minute when defender Meghan Klingenberg was on the ball and looking to pick out a teammate with a cross toward the back post. However, committed to blocking the ball in was defender Sarah Gorden, who did just that to stop what would have been a golden opportunity for the Thorns.
Five minutes later, though, Angel City opened the scoring as midfielder Savannah McCaskill put home the first of her two goals on the night as she headed in a Jasmyne Spencer cross. Spencer received the ball on the right flank and didn’t take more than two touches before opting to whip in a cross. The weight on the pass was perfect, allowing McCaskill to make a central run and get in between defenders to make a play. Once she got her head on the ball, it sailed past Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby and in to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
The hosts would not stop pressing ahead and another chance fell to McCaskill in the 17 ^th minute, this time seeing Bixby produce a good save at her near post to prevent going down a second goal. This time, defender Paige Nielsen was on the ball on the left side when she picked out McCaskill at the near post with a driven cross. McCaskill did well to get the ball on frame given the angle of her header, but Bixby was there in time to push it out for a corner kick.
After a couple of half chances at the other end for Portland, Nielsen had a look of her own on goal in the 36 ^th minute. A flicked ball in toward the middle of the box eventually fell to Nielsen, who was in a central position not more than 8 yards out from goal. However, due to a combination of smother Portland defenders and an onrushing goalkeeper Bixby, Nielsen was unable to get her shot through and Bixby collected the ball in the end.
Finally being able to capitalize on some momentum, the Thorns then went and scored their equalizing goal in the 44 ^th minute, with forward Morgan Weaver bringing her team level. Going from one end to another, Portland created something out of seemingly nothing when defender Natalia Kuikka drove a low ball across the box toward Weaver near the left side. Taking a touch in with her right foot, Weaver then curled an inch perfect shot around Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, who had little chance of saving the effort.
This brought the two teams back to even through halftime, but only as far as two minutes after the restart after Savannah McCaskill’s unbelievable free kick effort in the 47 ^th minute. The hosts had earned a free kick about 21 yards out and in a fairly central position, if anything just left of the center of the goal. Up stepped McCaskill, and she was able to get her effort over the wall and still curl it into the far right side netting as Bixby leapt to attempt a save only for the ball to nestle into the back of the net after a surgical free kick.
Portland by no means went away, though, with the Thorns creating multiple opportunities in front of goal that were either saved by Anderson, blocked, or narrowly missed. However, the biggest of them all came when Portland midfielder Olivia Moultrie was awarded a penalty kick after the defender Nielsen was judged to have fouled her in the box. Moultrie then stepped up to take, but a low effort just to Anderson’s right saw the goalkeeper not only prevent it from squeezing through, but she held it altogether to prevent any rebound effort by the Thorns.
In the end, Angel City was able to eke out the last few minutes and an exciting encounter with Portland saw the Los Angeles side earn three points in the fight for 2 ^nd place in the West Division.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights