How giddy do we think Head Coach Alex Straus was to pass off the “Welcome to the NWSL” baton that he's been holding since last June to Martin Sjögren after Angel City's home opener on Sunday?

That's right. Angel City opened their 2026 account with a resounding 4-0 victory over the Chicago Stars at BMO Stadium. This was Angel City's first win at their home opener since the inaugural one in 2022.

Who would have thought? An off-season to reflect and a pre-season to drill with a consistent squad makes quite the difference.

While the bones of what Straus wants this team to look like poked through at times during the back half of the 2025 season, it was hard for the team to execute. Mismatches in personnel, inconsistent player availability, and underdeveloped on-field connections contributed heavily to the mostly lackluster performances.

The formation on Sunday got Riley Tiernan, Sveindís Jónsdóttir, Maiara Niehues, and Kennedy Fuller on the pitch at the same time in a way that looked cohesive and dangerous. The defense looked solid with Emily Sams alongside Sarah Gorden. Gisele Thompson looked strong and durable, and Evelyn Shores looked like she'd taken some leaps and bounds in development over the off-season. There was excellent link up play along the wings and the press was smothering.

Angel City looked hungry on Sunday. To be fair, Chicago looked terrible. However, previous versions of this team may have conceded a late goal. They may have lost focus and allowed Chicago into the game more. They may have split the points. They may have only won by one goal. Instead they came out with intensity and urgency and they did not waver for 90+ minutes. The team played well into Chicago’s half for most of the game. While I'm sure the ghosts of Angel City's past will appear throughout the season, the sustained intent demonstrated in Sunday's match is something the team has not shown in a long time. Throughout the second half I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Surely they would not be able to keep up the high octane pace the whole game but they proved me wrong.

The team came in as the better of the two sides and they put out a performance that demonstrated that. Definitively. Four goals! Angel City was the only team on the weekend to win their match by more than one goal. Let’s relish the time at the top of the table as there is a long season ahead. However, I feel proud that Angel City came in and did what they needed to do and then some. The NWSL is a league where these points might matter when it comes to making the playoffs or not in November.

Angel City took 18 shots throughout the match, most of them of poor quality but Chicago’s goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher was having a rough night. Some of these shots were players spotting her off her line and testing her. Ultimately the constant pressure from the attack gave them four goals. Shall we relive them all?

What I want to highlight here more is that Angel City had three good chances and capitalized on all of them. Throughout the back half of last season it seemed like shot map after shot map of Angel City taking low quality shots from wide or distant areas. Chicago’s defense was Swiss cheese, and it was encouraging to see the team taking advantage of that and creating opportunities in dangerous areas of the pitch.

Despite the team scoring four goals and Angelina Anderson keeping a clean sheet, perhaps the most special moment of the night was the return of Savy King. For those unfamiliar, King suffered a life-threatening cardiac event during a match at BMO last May. She has shown endless positivity and drive in her recovery to make it back to this moment. 16,000 people on their feet for her, so glad that she is happy, healthy, and back on the pitch.

Overall she looked great. She reasonably seemed to have some jitters but she was always sure to make up for it putting in some amazing tackles. I mean, come on..

To add to the feel-good vibes, two of the rookies, midfielder Carina Lageyre and forward Taylor Suarez, earned their debuts and looked pretty solid. Pretty dreamy home opener for Angel City if I do say so myself.

This week the team is traveling up north to face off against Bay FC on Saturday. This should be an interesting match up. Bay’s forwards like Racheal Kundananji and Alex Pfeiffer will be a handful, and midfielders like Claire Hutton, Taylor Huff, and Hannah Bebar will be tough matchups. However, between maternity leave and injury, their backline is sort of in shambles. It was announced today that unfortunately midfielder Hina Sugita will miss this season due to a torn ACL, so Angel City’s midfield depth takes a serious hit there. However, I think that if Angel City’s midfield can stay competitive with Bay’s, they can come out with a win.

**Images courtesy of Angel City