Newly acquired Angel City FC forward Sydney Leroux reacts after asking for a penalty call during the second half of their NWSL match against the Portland Thorns on Friday night at Banc of California Stadium. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)
Opposing defenses in the NWSL have yet to see what an Angel City FC attack would like with Sydney Leroux and Christen Press on the field alongside Alyssa Thompson.
Leroux (ankle surgery) and Press (ACL) have yet to debut this season as they’ve continued their recoveries.
“At the start, she was making slow progress,” Angel City coach Freya Coombe said of Leroux. “Now, she’s absolutely flying. She’s working incredibly hard on the training field, her recovery now is going great, she’s starting to integrate into team training, so we’re hoping to see her in the next few games, I would say, but still not quite there yet.”
Leroux was acquired in a late June trade with the Orlando Pride last season and played in just three games with Angel City before being sidelined due to an ankle injury that required surgery.
Press suffered an ACL injury in a game in June against Racing Louisville FC. In a recent interview on ESPN, she explained where she is now in the recovery process.
“I’ve had some setbacks and I’ve had some ups and downs, I think that’s normal,” Press said. “I think this took a bit longer than I had hoped up till now, but I’m in the final stretch of my recovery. I’m starting to feel like myself again. I’m getting my body back and hopefully I’ll be joining the team soon.”
Press posted a video on her social media of her running.
“I think that her running form is looking superb and again, we are just making sure that we track the return to play and are able to tick the boxes in a very controlled and methodical manner,” Coombe said of Press. “We’ll continue to work with Christen on her return to play and see her start to integrate more in with team as the weeks go on.”
Looking to bounce back
Angel City (2-3-2, eight points) kicks off a three-game road stretch on Saturday against the North Carolina Courage (3-3-1, 10 points). The Courage defeated OL Reign, 1-0, on Sunday on a goal by former Angel City forward Tyler Lussi.
Angel City is coming off of a frustrating 1-0 loss to the Washington Spirit, thanks to a late penalty.
“I think they’ve shown that they can be super dangerous at times,” ACFC midfielder Savannah McCaskill said of North Carolina. “I think they get really expansive, they like to keep the ball, but then they also are really good at finishing their chances.
“As a group, we have to stay disciplined and pick and choose our moments of when we want to press them and when we do win the ball back. It’s really important our decision-making of can we transition right away or do we need to put our foot on the ball and keep the ball.”
Upcoming schedule
After Saturday’s game in North Carolina, ACFC will visit OL Reign on May 27 in Seattle and then visits the Portland Thorns in a Challenge Cup game on May 31. The next home game is June 5 against the Chicago Red Stars.
ANGEL CITY FC AT NORTH CAROLINA
When: Saturday, 4 p.m.
Where: WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, N.C.
TV: Paramount+