The goals, both from second-half substitutes, came less than six minutes apart late in the second half, the first when Sofia Jakobsson converted a Christen Westphal pass into a score at the end of a counterattack and the second when Makenzy Doniak deflected a shot from distance off Angel City defender Sarah Gorden.
Morgan got the assist on the second goal, shutting the door on Angel City’s first home loss to its Southern California rival. For the Wave, the shutout was their second in as many games.
The game, played in front of a sellout crowd of 22,000, was the first between Morgan, an 11-year NWSL veteran, and Thompson, who was making her third league start, though the two played side by side on the national team earlier this month. Thompson hardly needed an introduction: Prominent in the decor in the childhood bedroom she shared with sister Gisele was a poster of the 2015 U.S. national team, meaning she woke every morning to Morgan’s smiling face.
That visage has become the face of U.S. Soccer, Morgan having accepted the mantle first shared by Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy, then passed on to Abby Wambach, Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe.
Morgan is now 33 and a mother, and though she’s still playing some of the best soccer of her career, matching Sophia Smith for the NWSL scoring lead over the past two seasons, this summer’s World Cup could be her last. And while Thompson, 18, is too young to be Morgan’s direct successor, she’s too good to be kept out of the conversation for long.
Lloyd, a two-time world champion and two-time world player of the year, says such talk is not only premature but possibly harmful.
“Many times the media and U.S. soccer try to pick a player or two who are the ‘face’ of the team, but sometimes that can hurt a player if they aren’t able to live up to the hype,” she said. “Alyssa definitely has the qualities to make the WNT, but it may be in Alyssa and the soccer world’s best interest to let Alyssa be an 18-year-old pro player and enjoy her journey.”
San Diego coach Casey Stoney agreed.
“I’m not here trying to put pressure on an 18-year-old,” she said. “It takes time as a professional to find your feet. It takes time to grow into the game. The worst thing we could do right now is put the country’s expectations on [her] shoulders.”
The game was the first of four scheduled meetings between Angel City (1-2-1) and the Wave (3-1-0), second-year clubs whose rivalry has already grown into one of the best in league. It was also the first NWSL appearance in nearly two years for Julie Ertz, a two-time world champion. Ertz, 31, who stepped away from soccer in the summer of 2021 to start a family, signed a free-agent contract with Angel City on Monday and trained twice before making a solid Angel City debut, her confidence growing noticeably before she exited in the 72nd minute, just after Jakobsson’s goal.
The scoreless first half proved frustrating for both Morgan and Thompson, with the best chance for the San Diego captain coming in the 36th minute when a Jaedyn Shaw pass found her on the edge of the box. Morgan stumbled, however, and took a poor first touch before sending a right-footed shot well over the crossbar.
Three minutes later Thompson, who was electric at times, delivered a beautiful cross from the left wing to a wide-open Katie Johnson in the center of the penalty area, but Johnson couldn’t control the ball and failed to get off a shot.
Thompson also set Ertz up with a deft chip at the near post early in the second half, but Ertz couldn’t get a boot on it, allowing the ball to roll out for a goal kick. Moments later a Thompson shot from nearly the same spot was snagged at the post by Wave keeper Kailen Sheridan.