**Los Angeles, California** – Angel City FC relied on a first minute penalty kick from midfielder Savannah McCaskill to nearly Portland Thorns FC, but a last-gasp equalizer from Portland’s Yazmeen Ryan prevented the hosts’ win and the pair of sides split the points at Banc of California Stadium in a 1-1 draw on Friday night.
The temperature kicked up a notch just 45 seconds into the match as Angel City earned a penalty kick through midfielder Savannah McCaskill, who went down under a defender’s challenge after playing a pass in the box. Up to take, McCaskill would end up securing the lead for the hosts but not without best efforts from Portland goalkeeper Shelby Hogan. McCaskill pushed the ball just to the left of goal at a good height for Hogan to save, but the midfielder was able to pounce on the rebound and shoot low to the right side of goal with her ball bouncing off the post on the way in.
Just a few minutes later though, Portland nearly found an extremely quick equalizer. A corner kick that pinballed around the box eventually fell at the feet of defender Megan Klingenberg. After she saw her shot blocked, the ball then came to defender Kelli Hubly at the top of the box, whose shot barreling toward Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haracic’s goal landed just inches wide of the goalpost.
Portland’s push for an equalizer continued in the 16 ^th minute when attacker Yazmeen Ryan was denied by Haracic from close range. A fantastic curling ball in from the left side by teammate Hina Sugita saw the ball come to Ryan, but the forward’s effort on goal was extremely well saved by Haracic at the expense of a corner that came to nothing.
Ten minutes later, Portland pushed again as the visitors picked up the ball in the midfield area which eventually saw Marissa Everett on the ball. Everett crossed in an inch-perfect ball for teammate Hannah Betfort, but Betfort’s headed effort landed just high of the crossbar as the attacking onslaught continued.
As the half wore on, Portland’s next big chance came in the 39 ^th minute via a free kick over 25 yards out from goal. Over the ball was forward Yazmeen Ryan, who surveyed her options with the offside line set right at the top of the box. Opting to go for goal, Ryan produced a powerful effort that just failed to dip under the crossbar to test Haracic as it instead sailed over and out for a goal kick.
Though a frenetic start resulted in an early lead for Angel City, eventually both sides settled into the match and Portland produced a flurry of chances that ultimately went unconverted as the hosts held to their 1-0 lead through 45 minutes.
Into the second half, the hosts piled on pressure and came close to finding a second goal in the 54 ^th minute. Driving forward, Angel City attacker Jun Endo slid her way down near the endline before crossing a ball in the box that eventually found its way to teammate Lily Nabet at the top of the box. Nabet then unleashed a driven ball toward goal that the new netminder Hogan was able to keep out despite its power.
One of the other big storylines of the night involved newly acquired Angel City forward Sydney Leroux and whether or not she would make an appearance. Just after the hour mark though, Leroux’s number was called and she made her club debut looking to make an instant impact among the new group.
Though it looked as if Angel City would come away with all three points as they attempted to kill the game into six minutes of stoppage time, the visiting Thorns would not quit and produced a 96 ^th minute equalizer via a fantastic header from Yazmeen Ryan. On the left in possession, Portland’s Madison Pogarch delivered an unbelievable floating ball to the back post for Ryan, and the attacker powered her header past Haracic and in to steal a point.
In the end, goals in the first minute and the absolute last minute saw Angel City and Portland split the points in an entertaining match from start to finish

Match Highlights

Match Highlights