christen-press-2.png
Getty Images

The 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup is underway and new expansion sides Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC kicked off their inaugural seasons with a 1-1 draw in their first NWSL match on Saturday at Titan Stadium in Fullerton, California. Savannah McCaskill recorded a goal for Angel City, and Kaleigh Riehl scored for San Diego.

Angel City were hosts for the first ever regional rivalry game between the two sides, though the club will play their games at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles for the NWSL regular season.

Let's take a look at three takeaways from the match.

1. Christen Press is back

The Los Angeles native and first player signing for Angel City made her impact immediately in her first NWSL match since 2020. In the opening minutes, McCaskill and Press developed chemistry quickly in attack as Press, who played for Manchester United in 2020 and 2021, nearly broke open the scoring in the seventh minute.

As McCaskill switched the play on the pitch to feed Press out wide into space, it allowed the forward to create her own right-footed shot that just nicked the crossbar. Press went on to record five shots, with four on target, while creating one chance during the match.

2. Both clubs scored historic goals 

McCaskill scored the historic first goal in Angel City history during the 49th minute, as she headed away a long cross from defender Ali Riley. Take a look:

The midfielder played the full 90 minutes and was second in pass percentage completion for Angel City with 78.8% and led the team with five chances created.

Defender Kaleigh Riehl scored the equalizer for San Deigo on late-game set piece during the 81st minute.

It was the first goal for the franchise and for the defender, who was drafted back in 2020. Riehl subbed into the match for the second half, and led the team in pass percentage (93%) and duel success percentage (100%). 

3. The Casey Stoney era has arrived

Led by head coach Casey Stoney -- a former Chelsea FC and England women's national team defender -- San Deigo Wave FC took their first steps as an expansion side in the league. As the club built their team over the offseason, questions remained around how the attack would look for the Wave after the acquisition of several defenders, including 2022 NWSL No. 1 overall draft pick Naomi Girma.

"The biggest pleasing thing for me was to go one nil down and come back into the game. That shows huge character and resilience," Stoney said after the match.

Stoney's starting lineup reflected trust in rookies, as both Grima and midfielder Kelsey Turnbow were named to the initial eleven. The attacking line included Katie Johnson, Jodie Taylor, and rookie Amirah Ali, with veteran star strikers Alex Morgan and Sofia Jakobsson as options off the bench. 

When asked about the attacking core during the postgame press conference, Stoney defended her lineup choices while Morgan continues to work her way back into form.

"That's the center forward position, it's not Alex Morgan's position," Stoney replied after fielding a question from media. "Alex wasn't able to start the game due to the fact she's building back up from fitness and I wanted to utilize her when the game was open. And she obviously came on in a wide area. Jodie Taylor played in the nine and she did effective for us there. So you know, she's been training all season there. Alex came on wide and then moved central, and we were able to bring other players on."