Angel City FC comes up short against Portland in their first game back from the international break

Apr 26, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Angel City FC defender Gisele Thompson (20) pursues the ball against the Portland Thorns FC in the first half at BMO Stadium.

(Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

LOS ANGELES -- The international break has come to an end, and the NWSL is back. In Los Angeles at the always lively BMO Stadium, Angel City FC and Portland Thorns faced off. This hard fought physical and at times frustrating match ended in a 2-1 win for the Thorns. These two teams came into this one holding extremely similar records, Angel City FC with three wins and one loss, while Portland had three wins, one draw and one loss. This one was going to show who could rise above, and that Portland did.

Forward Pietra Tordin opened up the scoring in this game in the 76th minute for Portland. Along with the celebration that came from the away team, there was confusion coming from the home team. Following the game veteran and captain defender Sarah Gorden said that they thought there was a foul on the play that led to the goal.

“On the first goal we did feel like there was a foul on the play and that's kind of why we were hoping that the ref would look at it, we felt like there was a push in the back.” Gorden continued, “I’m one of those people that will never blame one moment or one call or no call on a reason that things don't go our way.”

No one team today was noticeably more dominant than the other. Angel City FC head coach Alex Straus mentioned that in a result like this one, it is due to their own mistakes. He said that in their last game before the international break on April 3 against the Orlando Pride, they were “pretty average”. While touching on what they need to change, he had an emphasis on how if the game were to end after the first half, there needs to be more energy and production right out the gate.

A highlight for the Los Angeles team came from Prisca Chilufya who was subbed into the game late in the second half put a point on the board for LA, and did not hold back any energy. The Kitwe, native in a break away moment sprinted towards the goal and made sure to be the first one to put a foot on it.