Giving up an early goal was tough enough. After the lead doubled, Angel City FC had its back up against the wall.
Angel City watched North Carolina score in the sixth and 19 minutes Saturday, proving too much to conquer as it fell 2-1 in Cary, N.C.
It was the first victory for the Courage (6-7-7, 25 points) since June 21, after which they went 0-2-4.
Angel City (6-9-5, 23 points), which had a five-match unbeaten streak snapped last Sunday in a 3-1 loss at Gotham FC, has now lost two in a row.
Saturday’s defeat came after Sveindís Jane Jónsdóttir, the Icelandic forward signed by Angel City in May, scored her first NWSL goal, set up by Miyabi Moriya, in the 88th minute to cut the Courage’s lead in half.
In the first of seven minutes of stoppage time, Jónsdóttir had a chance to tie it, but her header from outside the box was saved by Courage goalie Marisa Jordan.
Manaka Matsukubo opened the scoring by taking a pass from Payton Linnehan and creating some space on the right side of the box to blast a left-footed shot past the reach of Angel City goalie Angelina Anderson.
About 13 minutes later, Brianna Pinto capitalized on an Angel City deflection in the box to double the lead from straightaway.
It has been a tumultuous past three weeks for Angel City in terms of personnel. Forward Julie Dufour was traded to Portland on Aug. 22. Five days later, midfielder Katie Zelem and defender Alanna Kennedy were transferred to the London City Lionesses for an undisclosed fee.
On Sept. 5, former No. 1 overall draft pick Alyssa Thompson was transferred to Chelsea for up to $1.5 million. That was followed this week by the acquisition of defender Nealy Martin from Gotham FC on Tuesday and midfielder Lily Nabet being loaned Thursday to Fort Lauderdale United FC of the USL Super League.
Angel City returns to BMO Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. match Thursday against last season’s NWSL runner-up, the Washington Spirit. Four of its final six regular-season games are at home.
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