Saturday’s NWSL quarterfinal between the two highest-scoring teams from the regular season ultimately came down to a penalty kick in extra time that Angel City FC interim head coach Leif Smerud described as “harsh” and “tremendously cheap.”
Angel City lost 1-0 to the Kansas City Current at CPKC Stadium on Saturday on a penalty kick converted by Current forward Michelle Cooper in the 96th minute.
Referee Alexandra Billeter blew her whistle for a penalty kick after Kansas City defender Kayla Sharples was knocked over on a corner kick. Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson and midfielder Ary Borges both made contact with Sharples.
“I think it’s a tremendously cheap penalty, and at this level, this happens all the time,” Smerud said after the match. “If they scored in a normal way — to have a penalty like that against us seems very harsh and very strange.
“They would probably say there is a push, but there is a push in every game inside the box, and it just doesn’t seem right. But we cannot change that now. We can only come back to that we had a plan and we stuck to it.”
Angel City captain Sarah Gorden said that she was told by Billeter that the call was for a push on Sharples by Anderson. Gorden called the penalty “disappointing” and something she had not seen before, but felt her team could have been better with the opportunities they had.
“I’m not the player that likes to come into a press conference and complain about a call and say that’s why we didn’t win a game, because this is the way that football works,” Gorden said. “We needed to put the ball in the back of the net. We needed to do better, maybe, with our chances, or create a little bit more. We spent a lot of our energy defending.
“But on that call, the ref said that it was called on our goalkeeper. I personally have never seen that called on a goalkeeper trying to own her six [yard box] and her space, so I thought it was an odd call.”
Kansas City head coach Chris Armas shared a different perspective.
“I love VAR because it does usually take away the big decision-making through the human error [that] can be there,” he said. “They are calm, they’re in a booth. Their objective is to get it right. I trust that when we look back at it, that [Sharples] might have got pushed down as she’s competing for a ball.”
Cooper stepped up and finished the penalty, the first she attempted this season.
“We just have to go with whatever we get at the end of the day,” Cooper said. “And if we got that PK, awesome, but if we didn’t, we still had so much momentum and so many opportunities, I would hope that we would have at least put one of them in at the end of the day.”
Angel City controlled large stretches of the first half and kept the Current’s typically high-energy defensive press closer to their own goal.
Temwa Chawinga, who won NWSL MVP and Golden Boot awards back-to-back in 2024 and 2025, was kept in check by Angel City’s defense and limited to three shots.
Still, Angel City struggled to create quality opportunities beyond shots from distance, like the half-volley that Borges struck from outside the penalty area early in the first half. Current goalkeeper Lorena made a diving save.
Momentum shifted toward Kansas City in the second half and extra time.
“We felt good about the way the team grabbed the game,” Armas said. “There was a tilt, for sure, after halftime.”
Angel City and Kansas City entered Saturday’s quarterfinal having each scored 54 goals in the regular season, tied for the most among any team.
Angel City also came into the playoffs on a 10-game unbeaten streak, the longest in the NWSL. It was only the team’s second playoff appearance.
“I’m really proud of the group,” Gorden said. “I think we found a new level this year. I think we found a new level not only physically but mentally. I’m proud of what the group has accomplished.
“I said before going into the playoffs that just making it wasn’t enough, so I’m beyond disappointed because I think we are better, worth more than that result. I’m excited for the future of that group and what they can do. I am proud. And of course, respect to Kansas City.”
Angel City defender Savy King left the game in second-half stoppage time in tears after an apparent injury to her right hamstring. King walked off on her own power after receiving medical attention. Smerud said he believed it was a hamstring injury but had not confirmed that with his medical team.
Seventeen-year-old Maddie DiMaria also made her debut in the final minutes of extra time. DiMaria signed with Angel City over a month ago, before the NWSL’s Oct. 8 roster freeze, but was only announced by the team on Thursday.
DiMaria won the Golden Boot at the U17 Women’s World Cup that ended on Saturday. Her 12 goals are the most scored by a U.S. player, or any player of any nationality, at any age level in a single Women’s World Cup.
Kansas City’s quarterfinal win at home maintains a record of only two losses at CPKC Stadium since the building opened in March 2024. One of those was in last year’s quarterfinal, an upset loss to eventual champions Gotham FC.
Kansas City will face either Gotham FC or Seattle Reign FC in next week’s semifinal.
Armas credited his team’s “grit” and praised Angel City’s quality.
Smerud said he was proud of Angel City’s performance.
“I think we saw some tremendously good performances by some of our players,” Smerud said. “And as a team, the way we stayed calm in this environment … It’s just a sad moment, but also we are very proud.”
