The day has finally arrived. The 2025 NWSL season kicks off for Angel City FC this afternoon, and in true Los Angeles fashion, as the only match in the league on the day, it will take center stage with the world watching. This is one of the rare times where the fact this is a rivalry match, is the least important aspect of this matchup. San Diego Wave come into the season having had a very tumultuous offseason that saw them hit with accusations off the pitch, lose a ton of talent for on the pitch, and signings that feature far more potential than proven talent. That said, it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Angel City who themselves come into this year with new ownership, a revamped front office, and oh yea, they aren’t expected to have a permanent head coach until sometime around June. It’s not hyperbole when we say this league is pure chaos.
MATCHDAY INCOMING 🗣️
🗓️ Sunday, 3/16
🆚 San Diego Wave
📍 BMO Stadium
🤝 presented by DoorDash
🎟️ hubs.ly/Q036HB9s0#Volemos | #NWSL | #LAvSD | #AngelCityFC
— Angel City FC (@angelcity.com) March 14, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Today marks the 12th time these two California sides have met, with Angel City holding the slight advantage with a 4-4-3 (W-D-L) record. The lat five matches have been split right down the middle with Angel City winning two, losing two, and even a scoreless draw thrown in for good measure. Both sides come into this one having gone through an offseason of changes. San Diego finally found their new permanent coach in former Arsenal manager, Jonas Eidevall, but they also went through a bit of an exodus that saw them lose a lot of talent. Angel City for their part, come into this season with a lot more changes. A new ownership in the form of Willow Bay and Bob Iger (Disney), a new Sporting Director in Mark Parsons, and while the team isn’t keen on naming a permanent head coach until June, they are being led by Interim Sam Laity. For the most part, only the roster has really remained fairly intact from last season.
This season is a bit of a critical one for Angel City as they enter year four in the NWSL. The LA side has done incredibly well at building a community, establishing their brand and building the fan support in Los Angeles for women’s soccer. All that is nice, but now the club need to match the off-field success, with more on-field success. It will be difficult without a permanent manager at the helm, but so is the road that ACFC have paved for themselves. In a weekend that saw Kansas City Current and Orlando Pride pick up right where they left off last season, its more important than ever for Angel City to get off to a fast start to the season and what better way to do so than with a win at home, over your rivals, in match day one.
In some late news, last night Angel City FC forward Sydney Leroux took to her Instagram to announce she was taking a step back from the game of soccer. She cited her mental health as the main reason, playfully dispelled rumors of pregnancy, but did insist that she would be back in the future. Of course, first things first are the human aspect and in that regard everyone here at Angels on Parade wish Leroux the absolute best for her and her family, and send her all the positive vibes in the hopes she can find peace, joy, and happily return to the pitch when the time is right. In a football sense, this isn’t the best starts for Angel City, who will now need to put those emotions to the side and focus on the match at hand.
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How To Watch
The 2025 NWSL Season kicks off for Angel City FC today, with their match against San Diego Wave set for a 3:50 pm PT Kickoff from BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, CA. The match will be broadcast live and can be seen on ESPN2. The match will also be broadcast live via radio, which can be heard with iHeartRadio while Spanish-language broadcasts can be heard on AM980 KFWB.
Thoughts ahead of the season? Leave a comment below!