Wave downs rival Angel City 2-0 in front of sellout LA crowd

By SUSIE RANTZ
Associated Press

Sofia Jakobsson and Makenzy Doniak scored five minutes apart in the second half to give the San Diego Wave a 2-0 victory over Angel City on Sunday.

A sellout crowd of 22,000 was on hand at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles for the match between the National Women’s Soccer League rivals.

Jakobsson got her goal on a Wave counterattack in the 70th minute, with defender Cristen Joan Westphal earning the assist. The forward’s first goal of the year came on her 33rd birthday.

After blocking an Angel City pass, Doniak dribbled toward the center and passed to Alex Morgan, who gave the ball right back to the midfielder. Doniak’s shot in the 75th minute deflected off a defender and fell into the upper right corner of the goal.

Morgan now has three goals and one assist after four matches for the Wave (3-1-0).

Angel City (1-2-1) outshot San Diego 16 to seven, but only two of the home team’s shots were on target.

U.S. women’s national team midfielder Julie Ertz made her debut for Angel City after signing with the club earlier in the week. Ertz had not played in the National Women’s Soccer League since the spring of 2021 due to injuries and taking time off for the birth of her son.

CURRENT 2, PRIDE 0

Second-half goals from Debinha and Cece Kizer gave the Kansas City Current its first win of the season.

The 2-0 home victory ended a three-game losing streak for the Current (1-3-0), who fired head coach Matt Potter midweek due to “issues around his leadership and employment responsibilities.” Assistant coach Caroline Sjoblom took over as interim head coach.

After intercepting the ball just outside the Pride’s penalty area, Hailie Mace dribbled forward and passed to Debinha, who slipped a shot into the net in the 64th minute.

Kizer scored four minutes later with a one-touch shot on another Mace assist.

The Pride had some opportunities to bring the game closer, including substitute Messiah Bright’s header that went off the crossbar in the 70th minute. Orlando remains winless with an 0-4-0 record and has only scored once in four games.

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