Maiara Niehues scores Angel City's lone goal in 2-1 loss to North Carolina Courage

The Angel City FC Midfielder Maiara Niehues #12 celebrates a goal during an NWSL game against The North Carolina Courage on May 31st, 2026 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California.LOS ANGELES – Angel City FC closed out the first third of the season with a 2-1 loss against North Carolina Courage on Sunday before 16,057 at BMO Stadium.

>Maiara Niehues’ lone goal wasn't enough for the ACFC (4-1-6, 13 points) to earn any points before the NWSL break.

>It was scoreless at halftime. Neither side was able to find a way through the other’s backline, and although Angel City put up eight shots, only one was on target.

>North Carolina changed that three minutes into the second half with a goal by Evelyn Ijeh.

>Niehues responded with the equalizer in the 51st minute. The Brazilian national sent a header into the bottom right corner of the net off a cross from Evenlyn Shores.

Maiara Niehues with the picture perfect header to bring Angel City level! 🎯 pic.twitter.com/pYlQYOjQCX

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) June 1, 2026It’s Niehues’ second goal of the season and acted as the spark to Angel City’s more aggressive attack coming out of the locker room.

>Still, North Carolina found an opening to pull ahead in the 79th minute. Midfielder Manaka Marsukubo sent a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner off an assist by Riley Jackson, putting Angel City down 2-1.

>ACFC pushed to even the score once again. A free kick in the 83rd minute by Shores came close but flew outside the net. To their credit, Angel City stayed fighting until the last second of the eight minutes of added stoppage time.

>Rookie Taylor Suarez sent a left-footed shot from the left side of the six-yard box, but it was blocked by North Carolina’s Kailen Sheridan in the 90+2 minute. Four minutes later, rookie Karsyn Cherry sent a header, but it went left outside the post.

id="isPasted">Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson made two big saves throughout the second half.

>Statistically, Angel City had what should have been a winnable game. With 53% of total possession and five shots on target out of 17 total shots, ACFC exploited coverage gaps and created open spaces to take shots. They just couldn’t place the ball in the back of the net.

>"We've said a million times, soccer is a game of momentum. And so, you put the ball in the net early, it changes the momentum of the game, and you really need that shift throughout the game," said Captain Sarah Gorden, "We would like to score earlier to have the lead, and that does take some pressure off the defense, but ultimately it's up to all of us to be better in both ends of the field."

>Defensively, the team won 63 duels compared to the visitors’ 49 and out-tackled 24 to 21. Gorden, Emily Sams, and Jun Endo, who made four tackles, led Angel City with defensive contributions.

>But, like other matches this season, the result didn’t impress.

>"It's really disappointing to end the first part of the season this way. We wanted nothing more than to end with a home win. So we really got to go back to the drawing board and figure it out, because we got to put our chances away, and we got to keep the ball out of heart now better," said Gorden.

>The team has now lost six matches, all by a one-goal difference.

id="isPasted">“In all of these games, we do enough to win, and that’s the frustrating part," said Head Coach Alex Straus.

>"Strategically, I think we're quite compact with our structure, but we need to do more. With the ball we get, we are often doing one action at a time, and we get detached from each other and become a little bit too expansive. And that's the question we need to ask ourselves: Why does this happen?"

>Angel City sat 10th in the league table heading into Sunday evening. Now, the Los Angeles side heads into the NWSL’s month-long summer break 12th in standings.

>"June will be all about refining, about finding ourselves and our system a little bit more, and also just finding that belief again because that's what we need," said Gorden.

>The break will run from June 1st until July 3rd to account for the CBA-mandated break from June 8 to June 14, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup matches in the United States.

>To keep fans engaged and capitalize on the soccer buzz, the NWSL embarks on its "Summer of Soccer" bus tour campaign designed to promote the league during the World Cup.

>Angel City will return home to BMO for its match against the Orlando Pride (5-2-5, 17 points) on Friday, July 3rd at 7 pm PST.