THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Angel City FC sporting director Mark Parsons said forward Alyssa Thompson has set the standard in the opening weeks of the 2025 National Women’s Soccer League season.
“In the first three games, Alyssa’s been the best player in the league,” Parsons told ESPN at the team’s new training facility on Thursday.
Thompson scored in two of the team’s first three games, putting her one goal behind the league leaders. Her 8th-minute tally on Sunday against Seattle Reign FC helped propel Angel City to a 2-1 victory. Thompson beat two defenders with her movements and fired a shot into the upper corner.
Thompson, 20, tallied five goals and seven assists in 2024. She missed out on the United States‘ Olympic roster but went on a scoring run in the back half of the 2024 NWSL season and earned a recall to the USWNT. The 20-year-old is
She scored her first senior international goal on her return to the USWNT, in a 3-1 win over Iceland in October.
“I know she’s committed to looking for the next level in her play, and I think you see just how threatening and dangerous she is,” USWNT head coach Emma Hayes said of Thompson after that match.
Thompson has been part of every USWNT training camp since and is on the roster that will take on Brazil at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Saturday before facing the same opposition three days later in San Jose.
Angel City is unbeaten through three games for the first time in franchise history, largely thanks to a new, young core of players. Interim head coach Sam Laity started one of the youngest lineups in NWSL history — six players were age 23 or younger — in the team’s opening-weekend draw with San Diego Wave FC.
Thompson, along with her sister, Gisele, is one of the anchors of that youth movement. Thompson was the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft as an 18- year-old who was finishing high school. She played for the USWNT at the World Cup later that year.
Eighteen-year-old Kennedy Fuller has been the team’s playmaker in midfield, while 22-year-old forward Riley Tiernan has started all three games as Angel City’s striker after joining the team in preseason as a non-roster invitee.
Tiernan scored the game-winning goal against Seattle on Sunday, her first professional tally.
With her goal on Sunday, Thompson’s 11 regular-season goals already leave her tied for second in Angel City’s young history.
“They’ve got a lot of learning to do, but Sam and the team have done a tremendous job on having clear identity,” Parsons said about the young group of players. “I believe when you have that, individuals have the chance to perform. And I think we’ve had great individual performances so far. It’s been fun.”
