Prisca Chilufya Brace Powers Angel City Past Boston Legacy 5-2 in First-Ever Meeting

Eighteen minutes into the first meeting between Angel City FC and Boston Legacy FC, the scoreboard at Gillette Stadium already looked like somebody had hit fast-forward. Four goals, three of them for the visitors, and a Monday night in Foxborough that never really slowed down.

Angel City won 5-2, with Prisca Chilufya scoring twice and Ally Sentnor, Sveindís Jónsdóttir and Maiara Niehues adding one each. The result ended a six-match winless run for Angel City, and the club said the five goals tied its single-game scoring record while lifting its season total to 32, a new club single-season high.

Four Goals Before the Popcorn Arrived

Sentnor got it started in the fifth minute. Evelyn Shores teed her up after a corner, and the Massachusetts native, back in her home state, bent a left-footed shot from outside the box into the top right corner.

Boston answered three minutes later. Nichelle Prince found Sammy Smith in the middle of the box, and Smith drilled a left-footed finish into the bottom left corner to make it 1-1.

The tie lasted six minutes. Off another Angel City corner in the 14th minute, Sarah Gorden headed wide, the visitors kept the ball alive, and Chilufya struck from outside the box into the bottom right corner. Angel City said it was the Zambian forward's third goal of the season.

Then came the punch that changed the night. In the 18th minute Angelina Anderson saved a Smith header at one end, and seconds later at the other Savy King slipped a through ball to Jónsdóttir, who beat Laurel Ivory from a tight angle on the right. It was Jónsdóttir's seventh goal of the season, per the club, in her return to the starting lineup.

Angel City Keep Coming

The rest of the half was mostly Angel City around the Boston box. Jónsdóttir headed just over off a corner, Shores and King fired high, and Emily Sams had two headers in first-half stoppage time, one saved by Ivory and one that slid just wide. The visitors went into the break 3-1 up.

Boston's Jorelyn Carabalí headed wide off a corner early in the second half, but the next goal belonged to Chilufya. In the 58th minute Ivory saved her first attempt from the right side of the box, Chilufya won the rebound between two defenders and finished from a sharp angle into the bottom left corner. It was her first NWSL brace and, per Angel City, doubled her goal total for the season.

Both benches moved in the 62nd minute. Boston brought on Barbara Olivieri, Bianca St-Georges and Sarah Schupansky, while Angel City introduced Niehues for Jónsdóttir. Niehues needed four minutes. After Ivory saved one attempt and another flew high, she smashed a right-footed shot from outside the box into the top right corner off a Sentnor pass. Angel City said it was her seventh goal of the season and her first appearance since July 26.

Boston kept fighting for something to take home. Anderson saved a Traoré header in the 78th minute, Deja Davis sent two headers wide, and in the 88th minute Traoré finally got one, heading in from close range off a Schupansky corner.

The Turning Point

Smith's equalizer could have turned this into a shootout. Instead, Angel City scored twice in the next 10 minutes and never looked back. Chilufya's strike in the 14th and Jónsdóttir's finish in the 18th took the home crowd of 9,681 out of the game, and Boston spent the next 70 minutes chasing.

Starring Roles

Chilufya was a nightmare for Boston's back line: five shots, three on target, two goals. Interim head coach Leif Smerud raved about her. "She is very difficult to play against. She has tremendous power," he said. "And she works so hard for the team."

Chilufya credited preparation. "We spoke a lot about the game plan this week. I'm happy with how we showed that on the pitch; it's what we trained this whole week," she said.

Sentnor was the connective tissue with a goal and an assist from a single shot. Niehues made an instant impact with four shots in barely half an hour, and Shores and King each added an assist. Smerud did not undersell it. "Really happy and proud of the performance tonight. It was dominant," he said.

For Boston, Smith and Traoré both scored and put two shots on target each, Ivory made four saves, and Schupansky picked up an assist in her first appearance for the club. St-Georges made her 100th NWSL appearance, per Boston.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Angel City led 20 to 10, and 9 to 4 on target.
• Saves: Ivory made four; Anderson made two.
• Corners: Angel City earned eight to Boston's five.
• Crosses: Angel City attempted 22 to Boston's 12.
• Possession: Angel City held 52.4 percent, so this was about cutting edge more than control.

What It Means

Angel City improved to 8-5-8 (wins, draws, losses) with 29 points and ended a run of six matches without a win. Next is a trip to Racing Louisville FC on Saturday, a rematch of Louisville's 2-1 win in Los Angeles in July. Smerud made his intentions plain: "We want revenge."

Boston fell to 5-5-12 with 20 points and has now lost four straight, conceding 15 goals across those defeats. The Legacy, in their first NWSL season, head to Utah on Friday.

Closing Take

Angel City played the first 18 minutes like it was trying to finish a playlist before the bus left. The defending wobbled at times, but the attack finally looked like the one the club has been waiting on all summer, with Jónsdóttir and Niehues back on the field and Chilufya playing like a problem nobody can solve. "This gives us a lot of energy and belief," Smerud said. After six games without a win, belief was the one thing Angel City needed most.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by Angel City FC; match notes from Angel City FC and Boston Legacy FC.