Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Sitting at the microphone in the press room adjacent to BMO Stadium’s bustling field-level club, Angel City FC captain Ali Riley called Sunday night’s match a turning point for the team.
Angel City had just lost, 2-0 on home grounds in Los Angeles to aspiring rival San Diego Wave FC, so it could have been seen as a curious statement. As is so often the case in soccer, however, the final score did not tell the full story.
“I think we used our luck for the season tonight,” Wave coach Casey Stoney said moments earlier.
Angel City feels like it is at an inflection point because of one, potentially trajectory-changing addition to the roster: midfielder Julie Ertz. In her first National Women’s Soccer League match in 707 days, Ertz made her club debut, playing 72 minutes as the team’s defensive midfielder. Her physical play was good but not amazing by her standards — to be expected after such a long layoff.
What Ertz uniquely brings to any team is an aura, a belief, an edge. She…
