M.A. Vignola scored her first goal of the season as Angel City FC defeated the host Seattle Reign 1-0 on Friday night in a National Women’s Soccer League match, keeping their slim playoff hopes alive.
DiDi Haracic made one save in posting the shutout for Angel City (7-12-4, 22 points), which snapped a four-match winless streak (0-3-1). The club was fined $200,000 by the league and docked three points in the standings Thursday for violating the terms of the salary cap.
The Reign (5-13-5, 20 points) suffered their fourth consecutive defeat since a 3-2 victory against Angel City on Sept. 6 in Los Angeles. Seattle is scoreless during its skid.
Angel City scored the lone goal in the 34th minute. Vignola dribbled down the left wing and played a give-and-go with Alyssa Thompson. Vignola got the ball back near the top left of the 6-yard box and put a right-footed shot into the netting. Sprawling Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey got a slight touch on the shot with her left foot, but not enough to steer it wide.
The visitors threatened late in the half. Katie Zelem put a header off the crossbar after a corner kick in the 44th minute. Seconds later, Angel City’s Megan Reid went down near the left edge of the penalty area after being bumped by defender Shae Holmes. Referee Matthew Thompson took a look at a video review but declined to call a penalty.
Haracic’s lone save came on a 15-yard shot by Seattle’s Ana-Maria Crnogorevic in the 54th minute.
–Field Level Media
