**LOS ANGELES, Calif** . – San Diego Wave FC earned another massive win as it defeated Angel City FC, 2-0, on the road at BMO Stadium in front of a crowd of over 22,000 fans. In similar fashion to the Kansas City-Orlando game just hours earlier, the Wave relied on two goals in five minutes from Sofia Jakobsson and Makenzy Doniak to help them overcome Angel City, who registered 15 shots but had just two of those on target with 11 of their attempts blocked by the San Diego defense.
Starting the game off strong in the 17 ^th minute, Angel City opened up an early look as midfielder Savannah McCaskill picked out the run of forward Alyssa Thompson on the right side of the field approaching the penalty area. As Thompson came to take the ball into the box, though, San Diego defender Naomi Girma produced a phenomenally timed tackle to send the ball out of play for a corner kick that ultimately proved fruitless.
San Diego’s first opportunity in front of goal came in the 36 ^th minute when a well-orchestrated corner was delivered deep into the Angel City penalty area, forcing DiDi Haracic to punch the ball high and immediately clear of the goalmouth. However, this allowed San Diego defender Kristen McNabb to have a swing at the dropping ball with her left foot, though she was unable to get the ball anywhere near the goal with her effort.
At the break, the two in-state rivals remained scoreless as they both poked and prodded but ultimately could not find a way past the other’s defense.
The second half began with more chances for Angel City, beginning in the 51 ^st minute. Forward Claire Emslie decided to take on San Diego’s Christen Westphal in a 1v1 heading into the penalty area on the left side. Opting to pick up her head and shoot, Emslie’s effort was blocked but fell into the path of teammate Mary Alice Vignola. As Vignola took possession, she then drove a low ball across the face of goal that neither found the far post or an Angel City teammate and instead rolled out for a goal kick.
Four minutes later, a set-piece routine by Angel City saw forward Alyssa Thompson end up on the ball and driving toward goal in space. Looking to whip in a driven cross, Thompson’s ball in flashed across goal like Vignola’s and nearly found new-to-Angel City midfielder Julie Ertz, but also like Vignola’s, Thompson’s ball ultimately found no one. Then in the 67 ^th minute, Emslie was again on the ball but on the right side of the field where Thompson was. Unlike Thompson, though, Emslie chose to lift her cross in rather than go for a ball in towards the feet, but hers was cleared by the San Diego defense who did well to absorb pressure from the hosts.
The match took a big turn in San Diego’s favor in the 70 ^th minute as Sofia Jakobsson drilled home an effort from inside the box to put her side up a goal. Receiving a pass from Westphal down the right, Jakobsson worked her way into the box and cut back inside onto her left foot as she aimed toward goal. Firing on frame, Jakobsson beat Haracic and the Angel City defense to deliver the game’s first goal.
Just before Angel City could catch their breath and rebound, a wacky deflection on Makenzy Doniak’s shot led to an unexpected second goal for San Diego, who had little to complain about in the process. Doniak was still some distance from goal when she picked up Alex Morgan’s pass, but her shot toward Haracic’s frame took an enormous deflection and ended up looping over the goalkeeper’s head and in as the home crowd was stunned.
Aiming to pull one back, Angel City had chances in the 88 ^th and 90 ^th minutes as first a header by Angel City’s Scarlett Camberos was collected by San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan to end the move and a follow up chance in the 90 ^th minute for forward Katie Johnson left little to be desired as the San Diego defense continued up its performances earlier in keeping the Angel City attack at bay.
The result helped San Diego to its third win in four games, helping the side to rebound after its only loss on the year against OL Reign last weekend. Meanwhile, Angel City suffered its second loss of the year after responding to its season-opening loss with a win over Orlando and a draw with Racing Louisville.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights