**LOS ANGELES, Calif.** – Angel City FC moved up the Challenge Cup standings with a 2-1 win over their Golden State rivals San Diego Wave FC on Wednesday night, with two goals in the opening 18 minutes for the hosts helping them to victory. The win puts Angel City in 2 ^nd place in the West Division standings with 4 points from as many games played, while San Diego is now bottom of the division with three points from as many games played.
An early start for the hosts saw defender Madison Hammond put home a bouncing loose ball following a corner kick that sent both Hammond and the home crowd into delirium. A corner kick in from the right side found its way to the back post where it was eventually headed back across goal. With no one on the ball for a moment, Hammond burst through the pack and headed home past San Diego goalkeeper Shae Yañez for the game’s first goal.
Just a few minutes later, Angel City then doubled its lead as attacker Clarisse Le Bihan tapped in a ball into the middle of the box as Yañez was scrambling and couldn’t come close to stopping the effort. Angel City had the San Diego defense scrambling when a cross came in from right to left that disoriented the Wave back line. Then, from the left side of the box, Angel City’s Scarlett Camberos rolled a pass toward Le Bihan in the center of the box and the forward had little to do to put the ball into the back of the net as her team went two up.
In the 25 ^th minute, Angel City nearly added a third goal as Jasmyne Spencer attempted to link up with teammate Savannah McCaskill in the box, only for McCaskill to hit the post with an effort from just a few yards away as another quality chance to convert went missing and allowed San Diego to stay in the game. Ten minutes later, the hosts’ attack continued to put pressure on the Wave goal with a shot by Le Bihan saved, but the ball still bounced toward goal after the save. This forced defender Mia Gyau into a goalline clearance that surely saved her side from facing a three-goal deficit before the break.
Directly after that dramatic clearance, the Wave raced through down the left side of the field through forward Makenzy Doniak, who was facing a 1-on-1 with an Angel City defender. Doniak was able to get around the defense and rip a shot toward Angel City goalkeeper Brittany Isenhour, but the netminder was equal to the shot and, minutes later, the first half’s action came to a close.
Into the second half, 15-year-old phenom Melanie Barcenas, who earned her first professional start on the night, tested Isenhour just seven minutes from the restart. The shifty midfielder demonstrated her footwork in moving ahead toward goal, but a tame right-footed effort was collected by Isenhour.
Barcenas would be key to San Diego’s goal in the 62 ^nd minute, though, as her shot earned the Wave the corner they would end up capitalizing on. Forward Jaedyn Shaw delivered the corner kick from the right side, with the ball going to the back post and eventually headed toward the edge of the box where midfielder Danielle Colaprico was standing. From that position, Colaprico rocketed a shot that Isenhour had little chance of keeping out as San Diego was given a lifeline with just under a half-hour to play.
Unfortunately for the visitors, they would be unable to produce another quality chance as Angel City wrapped up a big 2-1 lead to help keep them in an advantageous position in the standings. Angel City has two Challenge Cup matches left, the next being on July 29 at home against Portland. Meanwhile, San Diego will face Portland on July 21, in Portland, in its next Challenge Cup outing.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights