Versatile defender a rotational player for Angels.
Madison Hammond joined Angel City FC from a trade with OL Reign about a week before the start of the NWSL Challenge Cup. The defender, capable of playing fullback or center back, seemed to recognize her path to playing time at Laura Harvey’s team would be long, and welcomed a move south to Los Angeles.
The Wake Forest product got minutes early, but she seemed to fall down the depth chart over the course of the season, as Freya Coombe worked out her preferred available backline.
Here are Hammond’s competitive stats with Angel City in 2022:
Three of Hammond’s four starts in the Challenge Cup came as a center back, but Coombe opted for Megan Reid in central defense in the penultimate Challenge Cup game and Reid took over the position for good.
Hammond’s versatility certainly gave her some playing time from there, as she had starts both at right back and left back. Ali Riley was a consistent starter when available, however, and as the team’s captain, she was on the field most of the time.
It seemed that Hammond would have the inside track, then, to be the right back, but Coombe opted for a converted forward platoon of Jasmyne Spencer and Tyler Lussi, who were effective.
So after the Challenge Cup, Hammond was a bench option and often the first player in reserve across the backline, but most managers don’t substitute defenders unless they have to. So that meant her playing time dwindled.
One of the big narratives of the Angel City season was the lack of rotation between the key players and everyone else. Hammond’s remarkable versatility — not many players could play across the entire backline — is an asset for any team and given the amount of injuries and absences to Angel City’s defense, she seemed like she could have played more than she did.
It’s unclear what Hammond’s contract status is for next year, but a youngish player with NWSL experience and an ability to play several positions, she seems like an asset. I think it’s pretty likely she’ll be back with ACFC next year, and hopefully she can be increasingly incorporated in the rotation in 2023, and from there, we’ll see what happens.
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