San Diego Wave Futbol Club beat Angel City Futbol Club 2-0 with goals from two second-half substitutes for their first-ever win in Los Angeles in the young Southern California rivalry derby.

“It’s nice. Very nice, that’s all I’ve got to say,” Wave head coach Casey Stoney said about beating their rival Southern California club in front of an announced sellout crowd of 22,000 fans.

San Diego now holds a record of three wins, one draw, and one loss across all competitions in what has been named by the respective supporting groups, “El Chanclasico.”

The defense played very well in the first half holding Angel City to only one shot on goal and maintaining a strong defensive shape to maintain a clean sheet. Defender Naomi Girma said after the match the team emphasized an organized defensive shape and avoided one-versus-one situations against Angel City’s strong attacking forwards like star NWSL rookie, Alyssa Thompson.

“I think we used our luck for the season tonight. It wasn’t a great performance,” Stoney said. “The first half we controlled the ball without really threatening them, the second half it was very much defending crosses for 45 minutes.”

Sofia Jakobsson came on for Amirah Ali in the wing position to start the second half and alongside Makenzy Doniak scored the game-winning goals for the Wave.

“I could see that Amirah (Ali) was struggling in the first half. I thought she got fatigued quite quickly… I couldn’t risk leaving her out there on a yellow card,” Stoney said. “I thought Sofia (Jakobsson) could come on and bring us a little bit of energy, the ability to run at players and get the ball and get us up the pitch.”

Stoney’s idea worked perfectly in the 70th minute as Jakobsson broke up the scoreless draw.. Christen Westphal ran the ball up after a failed Angel City set piece and gave a strong pass to Jakobsson. Jakobsson tracked the ball down rushing up the pitch and when in the box controlling the ball by stepping back in front of multiple defenders sending a bullet into the far side of the net to make it 1-0.

It was also Jakobsson’s 33rd birthday and said after the match, “it was extra special to score on my birthday and obviously come away with three points. I’m super happy.”

San Diego kept the pressure on and added an insurance goal within the next five minutes of the match. Makenzy Doniak who came on as a substitute took advantage of a misplayed ball by Angel City running it up the field running into Alex Morgan who played it back to her. Doniak took a few more steps and shot the ball right into the thigh of Angel City midfielder Dani Weatherholt. The ball deflected up and over Angel City’s goalkeeper to cement San Diego’s 2-0 victory.

Julie Ertz, a longtime player for the USWNT, played her first match with Angel City after returning to the pitch after time away due to the birth of her son and made a strong impact for her new club, speaking very highly of where her team is headed.

“Sometimes you can go into a game not playing like you deserve to win and come out with a result and sometimes you go into a gameplay really well and not come out with a result,” Stoney said. “I’d love us to play well and win, but the three points is massive for us in terms of momentum.”

The Wave will play again at home on Saturday, April 29, to face Orlando Pride looking to extend a six-match unbeaten streak at Snapdragon Stadium.