Angel City FC resumes NWSL playoff chase after World Cup break

For the first time in more than a month, Angel City FC will play a league game.

Angel City went into the World Cup break with a 2-1 victory over the North Carolina Courage on July 9. Since then, the only competitive games were in the NWSL Challenge Cup (a 2-1 win over Portland and a 1-1 draw against San Diego).

Those two results help Angel City increase its unbeaten streak to seven games (4-0-3) under interim coach Becki Tweed.

“We’ve been building over the last couple of weeks and I still think that we have huge room to grow as a squad,” Tweed said earlier this month. “There’s spaces that we’ve been brilliant and there’s spaces that we can still continue to improve in, as we can improve every day.”

Angel City (4-8-5, 17 points) returns to league play on the road against Racing Louisville FC (4:30 p.m., BSSC). This is the first of the final seven matches of the regular season.

Angel City is four points behind San Diego for the sixth and final playoff spot in the 12-team league. There are only six points separating San Diego from last-place Kansas City.

“Going into the final stretch of the season is exciting,” Tweed said. “We’ve given ourselves an opportunity to really show who we are and who we want to be in the last stretch of it. This team is going to compete until the final day.”

Angel City, much like every other team, will also be reincorporating its World Cup players back into the mix. Ali Riley (New Zealand) and Alyssa Thompson (U.S.) are on the trip and Tweed said that both are available for selection.

Sydney Leroux, M.A. Vignola and Amandine Henry, who have all been slowed by injuries, are also on the trip and available.

Racing Louisville is in seventh place (19 points) and will have a large contingent of its World Cup players. Brazil’s Ary Borges, USWNT’s Savannah DeMelo, Nigeria’s Uchenna Kanu and China’s Wang Shuang will be available.

The teams met on April 15 at BMO Stadium. Racing Louisville led 2-0 at halftime, but Katie Johnson and Savannah McCaskill scored in the second half as Angel City was able to earn a draw.

“When you put yourself in a position to fill pressure, you’re in a good spot,” Tweed said. “We’re happy to be a position we’re in to push and contend for a playoff spot. We have the belief that we have to take it one game at a time and look at it like every game is a Cup final.”

HILL, EDDY ADDED TO ROSTER

Local products Kelsey Hill (Pepperdine) and Elizabeth Eddy (Costa Mesa, USC) were signed to contracts through the end of the year.

Hill and Eddy were added as National Team Replacement Players.

“We’re so happy with what both Elizabeth and Kelsey have done in their time with our team,” ACFC general manager Angela Hucles Mangano said. “They have each earned their respective spots on the roster. What they contribute to the environment and their ties to the community makes this very special.”

ANGEL CITY FC AT RACING LOUISVILLE FC

When: Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

Where: Lynn Family Stadium, Louisville, Ky.

How to watch: Bally SoCal, Paramount+