Tag: Angel City FC

‘Was wondering why my neck was a bit stiff’ – Leroux posts video of nasty mid-air collision

This had to hurt

Angel City FC striker Sydney Leroux paid a serious price for some solid defensive work in Saturday’s game against the Kansas City Current.

Leroux rose up to head away a Current corner kick late in the first half at CPKC Stadium, before she was clattered into mid-air by rookie defender Ellie Wheeler.

The veteran forward violently slammed to the turf but somehow managed to pop back up to her feet immediately after a play that looked like it could have sent her to the hospital.

Wheeler was perhaps lucky to only receive a yellow card on the play, which Leroux posted on X with the caption: “Was wondering why my neck was a bit stiff this am…..”

Leroux would enact some measure of revenge five minutes into the second half, as she scored her first goal of the season to cut Kansas City’s lead in half.

The Current would tack on two more goals later in the half, however, ensuring Leroux and Co. would go back to California with some bruises — and a 4-2 defeat.

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NWSL Weekend Take-Off: Pure chaos takes hold as Portland Thorns retake league lead

Nothing is ever what it seems in the NWSL

Does anyone want to win the NWSL Shield this season?

That’s the question at this point, after first place exchanged hands yet again. In the last 11 rounds of games, we’ve woken up on Monday with a new team atop the table eight different times. The Portland Thorns’ triumph over Cascadia rivals OL Reign, coupled with the San Diego Wave stumbling against a Kansas City Current side that kicked off in last place, gave us yet another change in the race for the Shield.

Let’s take a quick look at this insightful video that explains how this entire season has felt.

The Thorns do appear to be this season’s “best” team, whether you approach it from the eyeball test, data, or results. Portland can hit heights no one else can hit, and have shaken off Sophia Smith’s injury thanks to Best XI candidate Morgan Weaver.

However, as impressive as the Thorns can be, there are only 11 points separating Portland from the Chicago Red Stars in 12th. A team that hasn’t won a regular season game since June has nonetheless stayed above the playoff line all season. There are three rounds of games to go, and no one has been eliminated or clinched a postseason berth.

NWSL chaos, never change.

Christen Press unlikely to play in 2023: ‘Her objective is coming back for next season’

Don’t expect Press to step on the field for Angel City this season

Angel City FC’s late push for a playoff spot will have to succeed without Christen Press.

The U.S. women’s national team star has been battling through a protracted recovery from a torn ACL suffered in June 2022, one that has required four surgeries.

According to Angel City interim head coach Becki Tweed, Press’ return will have to wait a bit longer.

“Her objective is coming back for next season,” Tweed told The Sporting Tribune on Tuesday.

“I think that’s the space that she’s in, and obviously a player of her caliber, we’re excited for her return,” added Tweed. “But we’re excited for her return when it’s the right time for her, and I think that’s obviously really important to bear in mind that we talk about injuries, but we talk about humans and people’s emotional state and what she’s been through in the last year and a half has not been easy.”

“So we’re so excited to have her back, and we can’t wait for it to be back on the field, and we know when that moment happens, it’s going to benefit the team.”

Back in July, when Press announced on social media that she would require a fourth surgical procedure, she described the situation as like finding herself at the foot of a “bigger, scarier, higher mountain.”

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In a September 4 interview with ESPN, Press was clear that the obstacles aren’t going to keep her away forever.

“The comeback is on,” said Press. “I am doing everything in my power to get back on the field as soon as possible, so looking forward to my return on the pitch.”

While Press kept hopes of a late place on the 2023 World Cup roster alive until announcing that last procedure, she has remained busy. On top of her rehabilitation and return-to-play work, the 34-year-old forward has branched into sports coverage, hosting The RE-CAP Show with Tobin Heath during the World Cup.

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NWSL Weekend Take-Off: Playoff race tension grows after Racing Louisville, Angel City both win

No team can ever relax in the NWSL

The NWSL is built to ensure late-season drama.

There’s no other conclusion to reach after another weekend that could have blown the standings wide open instead drew the entire table closer together. For the second time in recent weeks, the schedule set things up for the top six to largely push the bottom six adrift. Four of the six games over the weekend paired a team in a playoff position up against a team on the outside looking in.

And just like last time, the results largely skewed towards a tighter, more tense race. Racing Louisville and Angel City FC got big wins to keep pace, the Washington Spirit had a surprising stumble at home, and the only match between teams in playoff position ended up somehow being a bonkers 3-3 draw.

With four games to play, the gap from top to bottom is only 11 points. The teams in seventh and eighth are within six points of first. If you pull up Google’s NWSL standings and look over at the “last five” column, you’ll see more red X images signaling a loss for the teams in the top six (12) than in the bottom six (eight).

The seatbelt sign for this NWSL season should be flashing, because we’re about to have a turbulent landing.

USWNT star Julie Ertz announces retirement at age 31

The defender/midfielder earned 122 caps in her career, winning two World Cups

Two-time World Cup champion Julie Ertz has announced her retirement from soccer at age 31.

Ertz made her U.S. women’s national team debut in 2013 and went on to earn 122 caps, making her final professional appearance in a last-16 defeat to Sweden at the 2023 World Cup.

After that loss, Ertz said she had likely played her final USWNT game. The Angel City FC midfielder has now confirmed that her pro career has come to a close as well.

“As an athlete you’re always singularly focused on the next goal, the next tournament and rarely do you get time to reflect on your career,” Ertz said in a U.S. Soccer release.

“However, over the past couple of months my heart has been filled with gratitude as I’ve thought about the amazing experiences soccer has given me. I’ve been blessed to meet and train with some of the best and most inspirational women I’ve ever been around, and I’ve experienced different cultures while traveling the world to compete at the highest level. I gave everything I had to the sport that I love.

“With that I can walk away with no regrets because while I gave soccer every ounce of myself, soccer gave me even more, and for that I’ll always be thankful.”

Ertz made a surprise return to the field this April after nearly two years away, having taken an extended break from the game following the birth of her son in August 2022.

The midfielder quickly signed a contract with Angel City in a bid to make the World Cup squad, which she succeeded in doing. Ertz would go on to slot into her former role at center back, playing every minute of the USWNT’s four games alongside Naomi Girma.

Ertz rose to prominence at the 2015 World Cup, playing every minute of the tournament as a center back as the USWNT won the title in Canada.

Four years later, Ertz returned to the World Cup as a wrecking ball of a defensive midfielder, proving to be one of the team’s most vital pieces as she again helped the USWNT win the title.

Ertz spent the majority of her professional club career with the Chicago Red Stars, where she played nearly 100 games between 2014 and 2021. She was named the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year in 2017 and 2019.

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NWSL Weekend Take-Off: Sophia Smith injury looms as playoff pressure ramps up

Bad news for Portland, while Angel City picked up a huge win

The NWSL regular season returned from its World Cup slumber last week, but with several big names not truly ready to come back just yet, it was only this past weekend where the league felt truly “back.”

There were major developments: multiple draws for teams in the top six, paired with Angel City’s win over OL Reign, breathed life into the race for the final playoff spots. However, we’d be remiss if we didn’t start off with the league-wide show of support for Jenni Hermoso and the players of Spain’s World Cup-winning national team.

“Contigo Jenni” was on wrist tape all over the league, while fans — and not only those in supporters’ groups — brought banners reading the same. This is a league that knows all too well how vital it is to push abusive figures out of the game, and the resumption of club play isn’t going to mean the issues with Luis Rubiales, Jorge Vilda, and their enablers in Spain are going to be pushed aside.

That said, a different unfortunate piece of news bubbled up this weekend, with Sophia Smith suffering a knee injury of (as yet) unknown severity. An injury to the runaway MVP favorite is hardly the news anyone out there wanted, and it could change the entire complexion of this season’s stretch run.

Let’s sort through the good and the bad:

NWSL Weekend Take-Off: Orlando Pride serves notice, broadcast woes are back

We see you, Orlando Pride

The World Cup is over, but the drama is not, because the NWSL is already back.

We’re not just getting to loosen up and ease into the league’s return, either. The NWSL stretch run is literally here, with each team down to its final six games. The standings are packed tightly, and the next few weeks before the September FIFA window are going to feel like a full-on sprint.

Some teams were fully prepared to get moving at full speed. With four teams outside the playoff places hosting games over the weekend, this was a huge opportunity for most of the league to either get seriously into the mix, or for teams in the top six to keep the chasing pack at bay.

The Orlando Pride got off the line fastest with a blowout victory, while the Kansas City Current came up with a gutsy win that effectively kept their playoff hopes alive. Racing Louisville and the Houston Dash came back to get draws, but neither side is in a place where home draws are going to get the job done.

We’re going to be attempting a format experiment here, at least with the next couple of Take-Offs. The hope is that with a little streamlining, the column is more easily digested. We’re thinking less of a minivan and more of a hatchback.

And with that in mind, let’s get this car on the road.

When will World Cup players return for NWSL teams?

Notes on returning World Cup players from all 12 NWSL teams

The World Cup may still have a final and third-place game to finish, but the NWSL is done waiting.

The league’s break from regular season play concludes Friday, with the Kansas City Current and OL Reign kicking off a full slate of matches.

It’s awkward timing, with a few players still participating at the World Cup, others still recovering from a physically and mentally grueling process, and yet more having come back quickly after the group stage. With 61 different NWSL players going to the World Cup, there are probably 61 unique situations to deal with here.

Pro Soccer Wire knows fans want to know when their team’s internationals will be back in uniform, so we’ve done the relevant social media research and Zoom press conference recording. Consider this a status update for all 61 World Cup participants as the NWSL playoff chase truly gets underway.

Press reveals she will require a fourth knee surgery

The veteran forward has already missed more than a year due to a torn ACL

Christen Press has revealed she will need a fourth knee surgery in an emotional post on Instagram, saying she is at “the bottom.”

Press tore her ACL in June 2022 during an NWSL match with Angel City FC. In March, she posted an update on her Instagram account that indicated she was forced to undergo additional surgeries.

There was a more optimistic update from the U.S. national team forward in early May, when she said she was still holding out some hope that she could be fit for the World Cup roster.

Bur more than two months later, the 34-year-old has yet to return to the pitch. On Monday, she said that after previously providing updates when she thought she was nearing a return to the field, this update would be different.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CuyPwn6LGF0/?img_index=1

“I am here again, with recent news I need a fourth surgery. This time, I want to share how I’m doing from the bottom,” Press said.

“This month commences the World Cup. The USWNT’s first game will be exactly 13 months from my ACL repair to the day. Until the roster was announced, there wasn’t a day that passed over the last year that I didn’t believe I could be there. Even after three surgeries.

“Back in February, when my surgeon and physical therapist told me directly, as medical advice, to let go of that dream, I cried. I nodded. And I thought I processed that loss. But, I also decided not to speak that truth into existence. I felt that if I shared that with all of you, l’d be manifesting it into reality. So instead, I stayed quietly hopeful. You never know what could happen, l’d say. Crazier things have occurred, I told friends.”

Press offered a window into her mindset, saying that although she often doesn’t miss playing, it is still her dream to “climb the mountain” and return to the pitch again.

“For me, the hardest part of recovery has been that I feel misunderstood,” she said. “In fact, I feel un-understandable. I’m not anxious to get back on the field. My identity isn’t lost by not playing. Most days, I don’t even miss it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to get back. That I’m not working every second of every day to return to the pitch. That hard past is: I don’t know what it does mean.

“My days are mostly good. I’m working toward my goal. And despite the fact that, on paper, this is an athlete’s recovery-nightmare, I feel in my heart that to climb the mountain — yes, even one more time — is the dream.”

Press has not played for the USWNT since the Olympics in 2021. She has  has 155 caps and 64 goals for the U.S. and was part of World Cup-winning teams in 2015 and 2019.

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NWSL Weekend Take-Off: Racing Louisville, Orlando Pride serve notice with statement wins

Heading into the World Cup break, and the chaos is back

The NWSL is heading into its World Cup break, and the vibes are all over the place.

Some teams could use the break to make some tweaks, get healthy, or even go for a wholesale adjustment. By contrast, a few others may just be hitting their stride, and will be understandably frustrated to have a couple of weeks without more games to build on their current momentum.

Naturally for this topsy-turvy league, the teams that need the break are closer to the top of the table, while most of the teams that are settling into a groove are the ones just outside the playoff places. In a couple of weeks, the NWSL has gone from the brink of “we might not have a serious race for postseason spots” to “everyone’s in the mix.”

For one last time before the World Cup gauntlet begins, here’s your Weekend Take-Off.