This is one of those stretches where Angel City FC are going to need every bit of that fabled grit, they can get their hands on. The team close out the short road trip this evening when they take center stage under the Friday night lights once again, from the Nation’s Capitol, taking on Washington Spirit. The last few matches have been nightmare fuel for Los Angeles, as they look to get back on track before getting back to California dreamin’.
Y’all ready for a monumental match?! 🦅
🗓️ Friday, 5/2
📍Audi Field
🥳 4 PM Watch Party at 33 Taps West Hollywood
⚽ 5 PM Kickoff#Volemos | #NWSL | #WASvLA | #AngelCityFC pic.twitter.com/MQd4SuxjbM— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) April 30, 2025
Washington Spirit are being held together by duct tape, spit, hopes and dreams. The hosts come into this match with almost an entire XI of injured players who will be missing this one. Namely, Hal Hershfelt (ankle), Casey Kruger (knee), Ouleye Sarr (SEI- Back), and Trinity Rodman who is away on excused absence. That’s not even half of the players the team have missing, as they get set to welcome a Los Angeles side itching to get back on track with a massive result on the road. Despite all of the injuries the team has to navigate, the Spirit have won three of their last five matches, including a stunning 0-1 win on the road over LA’s last opponents, Orlando Pride. Most intriguing, the last five outings have all been shutouts for the Spirit either on the winning side, or the side being shut out. Croix Bethune and Ashley Hatch will be looking to lead the home side to victory over Los Angeles, while new arrival, Gift Monday, will be looking to find her footing in the NWSL.
Angel City limp into this match just trying to find some joy and positivity. While it isn’t all doom and gloom, the last couple of matches have been rough for Angel City. After the blowout at home at the hands of Gotham FC, the team nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year as they seemed to have defending champions Orlando Pride under control, until a roaring comeback broke their hearts in the second half. Outside of the results, the team is starting to lose that energetic bite they seemed to have started the season with. Now, they are faced with another tough opponent away from home, but as we mentioned, given the injury situation, this would be the best time to play Spirit on their pitch.
If history proves correct, we know one thing for sure, a winner will be decided in this matchup. In the six previous meetings, Washington have four wins, while Angel City FC have two, with not a single match ending with points shared. After taking away wins in their first two meetings, the last four have been all Washington, but the team look to change that this evening. Two big keys for Los Angeles are going to be limiting opportunities defensively. Far too often this stretch, opponents have had several moments where they are clean on goal and setting up for scoring chances.
The other key will be utilizing the bench. One of, if not the biggest question right now, is what is the status with superstar forward, Christen Press. Off-pitch stuff aside, this is a player that looked keen coming into 2025, after spending a couple years rehabbing a major injury. It looked as though we were set for revenge season, yet so far the veteran attacker hasn’t seen much action on the pitch. It’s one thing to lean into the youth movement, but when you have veterans capable of changing matches and providing, at the very least, a spark, to not use them when in need, doesn’t make much sense. Same goes for the midfield and defensively, players like Zelem and Madison Hammond can help change flows of matches, giving the team different looks throughout the course of a match.
How To Watch
Kickoff against the Spirit is set for 5:00pm pt from Audi Field, in Washington, DC. The match will be broadcast live and can be streamed on Prime Video with Amazon Prime. 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 going into this match? Leave a comment below!