Vignola scores in the 88th minute to propel Angel City FC past Wave

Paige Nielsen and MA Vignola scored to take Angel City to a 2-1 victory against the San Diego Wave in the National Women’s Soccer League on Saturday.

The win was Angel City’s first game since former head coach Freya Coombe was sacked on Thursday after a shaky start that left the team in 11th place midway through the season. Assistant coach Becki Tweed took over and will serve as interim head coach until a permanent replacement is selected.

Kristen McNabb opened the scoring for the Wave in the 57th minute, running on a pass from Alex Morgan at the top of the box and firing a shot through defender Ali Riley’s legs and into the right corner.

Nielsen tied the score in the 70th, knocking down a corner at the far post and narrowing her shot into the corner at the near post.

Angel City became the first team to win a game this season after going behind in the 65th minute.

Entering the weekend at the top of the standings, San Diego moved to 6-4-2.

Courage overcomes Pride 3-0

Brazil’s Kerolin scored her eighth goal in the league as North Carolina capped off a visit to Orlando.

The Courage put the pressure on early on, but Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse made two crucial stops, coming out to poke the ball away from Kerolin on a 7th-minute breakaway and going big to save Tess Boade’s shot five minutes later to stop.

Playing in front of a home crowd at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, De Courage made his breakthrough in the 32nd minute, when Kerolin placed a back pass from Boade into the right corner.

Boade thought she conceded a second goal for the Courage in the 63rd, but it was called back for offside.

Kerolin forced an own goal from Pride (4-7-1) in the 83rd to put the home side 3-0 up.

The Courage (6-4-2) now have the best six shutouts in the league this season.

Four Canadians play in Dash’s 0-0 tie with OL Reign

The Houston Dash went down one player for 45 minutes in a brutally hot and humid game, but held on at home for a scoreless draw against OL Reign.

Just before the break, Houston’s Natalie Jacobs was shown a red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity when she fouled Tziarra King.

Even with the extra player, the Reign couldn’t beat the heat, finishing with just eight shots and only one shot on target.

Alysha Chapman from Oshawa, Ont. and Sophie Schmidt of Winnipeg, MB, started for the Dash, while Chilliwack, BC native Jordyn Huitema took her usual spot as starting striker with the Reign. Toronto’s Quinn also started in midfield for the Reign.

The Reign (6-4-2) were injured without three starters, including center fielder Jess Fishlock and U.S. women’s teams Rose Lavelle and Megan Rapinoe. Lavelle has not played since April 1, while Rapinoe injured her calf in the 3rd minute last week. Both players are expected to make a speedy recovery, with national team training camps starting on June 26 ahead of the Women’s World Cup next month in Australia and New Zealand.