LOS ANGELES — Women’s professional soccer finally made an official return to Los Angeles on Friday night at Banc of California Stadium.

For the first time since the Los Angeles Sol folded in the now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) in 2010, a women’s soccer team stepped on to a field in Los Angeles.

In front of a sellout crowd of 22,000, Angel City FC, backed by an ownership group that features an impressive assortment of high-profile actresses and athletes such as Natalie Portman, Jennifer Garner, Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy, made its debut as the NWSL kicked off its 10th anniversary season.

The night ended in storybook fashion as ACFC defeated the North Carolina Courage, 2-1.

Angel City and San Diego Wave FC are the two newest franchises in the NWSL and the first time the league has ventured into California.

Every move Angel City made during the pregame was greeted by loud cheers, setting the stage for a perfect first half for L.A.’s new team.

After all of the pomp and circumstance of the pregame festivities, which included a live performance of the team’s anthem “Running with the Angels” by Tia P. and Brittany Howard and a group photo of some of the team’s investors and ownership group, Angel City opened the season in fine fashion as Vanessa Gilles’ thumping header flew to the back of the net in the fourth minute for the team’s first regular-season goal.

Gilles’ goal was set up by Jun Endo’s sublime touch around the North Carolina defense, before sending the ball toward Gilles.

Less than 10 minutes later, Endo was causing problems again. This time, using her speed to track down a long pass from Savannah McCaskill, she cutt in on the left, angled for the far post and tucked the ball in for a goal and a 2-0 lead.

The second half didn’t get off to a good start as Debinha got North Carolina on the board in the 51st minute to cut the margin in half.

After a physical second half, the last thing standing between Angel City and its first win was the six minutes of stoppage time. Eventually, it made its way through it without allowing a goal, sending the crowd into another loud roar of approval.

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The journey to Friday night began in July 2020 when it was announced that Angel City FC would be joining the NWSL in 2022.

The team finally got on the field this year, but as expected went through some growing pains during the NWSL Challenge Cup. In six games, it went 1-4-1, defeating the Portland Thorns, 1-0, in its final game.

Its last two games, a late loss to OL Reign and the victory over Portland, were two of its better performances.

Angel City will look to make it two in a row next Sunday as the Orlando Pride visits.

More to come on this story.