Angel City Opens Fifth NWSL Season With a 4-0 Rout of the Chicago Stars

LOS ANGELES — Angel City waited four seasons for an opening day like this one. On a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon at BMO Stadium, the hosts routed the Chicago Stars 4-0 to start the club's fifth NWSL season, the most dominant win in franchise history by the Los Angeles Times' account and a margin that matches the largest in club history. It was Angel City's first season-opening win since 2022, and it came with a story that mattered more than the score.

Kennedy Fuller scored and set up another. Ary Borges and Maiara Niehues, both Brazilian midfielders, found the net. Evelyn Shores headed one in. And in the 63rd minute, defender Savy King stepped back onto the field for the first time in a regular-season match since her cardiac incident in May 2025.

Fuller Breaks It Open

The first half belonged to Angel City, which outshot the Stars 10-2, but the ball did not go in until the 33rd minute. Borges, making her first start for the club, found Fuller, who accelerated into the right side of the penalty box and fired a low shot under diving Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. The 19-year-old midfielder had her first goal of the new season, and it was the only one of the half.

Chicago did have a moment. In the 38th minute, forward Jameese Joseph received a short pass from defender Michelle Alozie with a chance to equalize. Angel City's defense held, then countered: Niehues went on a long run, and the move ended with a free kick at the edge of the Chicago box. It was the kind of sequence that tells you about a team's confidence.

A Corner and a Header

Eight minutes into the second half, Fuller struck again, this time as the architect. She curled a corner to the near post, where defender Shores glanced a header past a stunned Naeher into the top-right corner. It was Shores' second career NWSL goal. It was also Angel City's second goal, and it essentially ended the afternoon as a contest.

Fuller, a teenager, said after the game that the team has simply been enjoying itself. "We're just having fun," she told the Los Angeles Times. "We're expressing ourselves and we're playing how we want to play."

Borges Pounces

The third goal came in the 66th minute and it was a gift of a different sort. Naeher tried to play a short goal kick, Borges jumped in front of Chicago's Maitane López to intercept it, and she beat her cleanly with a left-footed shot from the center of the box. It was Borges' first goal for the club. The club's own recap described it as a loose pass; the Times described a short goal kick. Either way, it was a punishing mistake.

"This is a newer club, and I like the challenge," Borges said, according to Angel City. "This club is going to make history."

Niehues Caps It

Four minutes later, it was 4-0. Sveindís Jónsdóttir, the Icelandic forward, made a long run down the right side to the Chicago touch line and dropped a pass back to the penalty spot. Niehues was open and fired a right-footed shot past Naeher in the 70th minute. It was the fourth goal and the final one.

Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson kept a clean sheet, building on what the club called a strong preseason. Defender Emily Sams made her first start. Taylor Suarez and Carina Lageyre made their professional debuts late in the second half, Suarez subbing in for Fuller in the 80th minute and Lageyre for Niehues in the 84th.

The Return of Savy King

The moment that will be remembered, though, did not come from a goal. In the 63rd minute, King came off the bench to play for the first time since collapsing on the same field 10 months earlier. She was taken to a hospital and later had surgery to address a heart abnormality, which left her career temporarily in doubt. She had a shot attempt in the 66th minute and made a key tackle on a long Chicago run in the 80th.

Fuller put it in perspective. "The game is so much bigger than playing 90 minutes on the field," she said. Head coach Alex Straus added: "Having Savy back today was a strong element for everyone — in our dressing room, and for the coaching staff, and for everyone in the stadium."

A New Beginning

The result fit the theme of the afternoon. Straus, in his first full season and first Angel City home opener, and sporting director Mark Parsons have rebuilt the roster. Six of Sunday's starters were not with the team at the start of last season, and three of them, Shores, Borges and Niehues, scored. Of the four goal scorers, only Borges is older than 21.

"There is a little bit of a new beginning," Straus said. Parsons put it more bluntly: "We're a completely different organization than we were at the end of last year." For a club that had one winning season and one playoff appearance in four years, the contrast was the point.

Reality Check

The caveats are worth stating. Chicago finished last in the 14-team NWSL in 2025 and has not had a winning record since 2022, so Sunday's performance came against a team still searching for itself. The announced crowd of 16,813 was the smallest ever for an Angel City opener, a fact that did not escape the Times. And Straus himself was careful not to get carried away. "I do exactly the same job when we lose," he said.

But Angel City did its job. Before kickoff, supporters unveiled a hand-painted tifo inspired by Lotería, the Mexican card game, a tribute to Los Angeles and the culture around the club. They watched their team score four goals, concede none and welcome a teammate home. By any measure, it was a good day.

The Close

Angel City heads north next. It faces Bay FC at PayPal Park in San Jose on Saturday, March 21, at 5:45 p.m. PT, on ION. Chicago heads home with a hard question to answer. For Los Angeles, the early answer to "What kind of team is this?" is a pretty good one.

Photo Credit: Oliver Figueroa-Celi/Undrafted