**LOS ANGELES, Calif.** – Angel City FC exploded for five goals against Portland Thorns FC to not only spoil the Thorns’ bid for the NWSL Shield but get Angel City over the playoff line and into a first-ever postseason appearance. Angel City will now travel to face the Reign in the first round of the playoffs, and while Portland’s bid for 1 ^st place falls short, the side will still enjoy an opening round bye as they await their semifinal opposition.
The opening half-hour was a tense one as Angel City came out swinging, and nearly scoring, even inside the opening 10 minutes. However, defender M.A. Vignola is who opened the scoring in the 36 ^th minute, and that set off a chain reaction of goals that saw the L.A.-based side open the floodgates. Vignola was operating on the ball down the left side of the field when she initially fired in what looked to be a cross until it screwed by in toward goal and left Thorns goalkeeper Bella Bixby diving to no effect as the ball soared in.
Two minutes later, a strong header at the back post from Angel City’s Scarlett Camberos doubled the hosts’ advantage and left them feeling confident heading into the halftime break, while the Thorns knew they were chasing as only a win could guarantee them the Shield.
However, just two minutes into the second half, a sharp moved kicked off by Angel City forward Claire Emslie’s clever backheel eventually saw midfielder Savannah McCaskill touch home a Vignola cross from just a few yards out as the home side made it 3-0 in the 47 ^th minute.
Then, just six minutes later, forward Sydney Leroux produced the effort of the night as an outrageous overhead kick off a Bixby deflection saw the forward place her effort into the far side netting and in, all but guaranteeing a historic win for her team.
Portland was able to pull a goal back through Hina Sugita in the 79 ^th minute, but Angel City responded with a fifth and final goal in the 80 ^th minute via Jun Endo as it put up five goals in a match for the first time in club history and launched the team into the playoff places.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights