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U.S. women's national team midfielder turned Angel City FC executive Angela Hucles Mangano will be the honorary falconer for tonight's Los Angeles Football Club-Vancouver Whitecaps Major League Soccer game.
One of the team's four falcons is released before the start of each game at Banc of California Stadium for a pregame flight at the center of the field, hunting a lure of the opponent's crest. Hucles Mangano played 109 games with the national team between 2002 and 2009, winning Olympic gold medals in 2004 and 2008. She is vice president of player development and soccer operations for the National Women's Soccer League team, which will begin play at Banc of California Stadium on April 29.
Hucles Mangano will be among the honorees as LAFC conducts Women in Sports Night on Sunday in connection with Women's History Month. The 7 p.m. game is sold out and the team is advising fans to arrive early to avoid traffic. The game will be the first of 18 this season to be televised by KCOP-TV Channel 13, which will air all LAFC games not broadcast nationally. KRCA-TV Channel 62 will be the Spanish-language station for the 18 games not broadcast nationally.
The game will mark the first time goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau will face the Whitecaps (0-2-1) -- who he played for from 2019-21 -- since being acquired by LAFC in a trade Jan. 20. Crépeau has played every minute of all three LAFC games this season, recording two shutouts, helping the team to a 2-0-1 record.
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