LOS ANGELES >> The debut of Julie Ertz was received with great excitement by the Angel City Football Club faithful Sunday.

However, San Diego Wave FC proved to be unwelcome guests, scoring a pair of goals in the second half to get the best of their Southern California rival Angel City, 2-0, in front of a sellout crowd of 22,000 at BMO Stadium.

Ertz, a two-time U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year and two-time World Cup champion, arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday, went through a couple of training sessions and turned in a 70-plus-minute shift in her debut. She signed a one-year contract with Angel City (1-2-1, four points) last Monday.

“I think I have a ton of gratitude for the support and the resources that I’ve been given from after pregnancy,” Ertz said. “Obviously, you don’t know after pregnancy how you will feel. I just have trust in the process in getting back and through the struggles and fun times of it. I just kind of learned to just take it step by step and trust it (the process) and it’s been an enjoyable ride.”

Ertz’s last NWSL game was in 2021 with the Chicago Red Stars. She took nearly two years off after giving birth to her son.

“This was an odd week,” she said. “I did have a day by myself that I could kind of get from flying in and then had two (training sessions).”

Wave FC finally broke through on the scoreboard in the 70th minute on Sofia Jakobsson’s goal. On her birthday, Jakobsson found some space, cut in on the defender and fired back to beat Angel City goalkeeper Didi Haracic high inside the near post.

Less than five minutes later, Wave FC (3-1, nine points) added an insurance goal as Makenzy Doniak’s shot from outside the 18-yard box, took a deflection off an Angel City defender and into the goal for a 2-0 lead.

“I feel like we could have got something more out of the game,” Angel City coach Freya Coombe said. “I thought that we were disciplined and I felt like we played for ... the longest period of time, we played this season in terms of consistency of our performance. I think ultimately some of the statistics reflect that we weren’t clinical enough in the final third ... in terms of the shots that we were able to create that were on target, it wasn’t enough unfortunately.”

Despite the loss, defender Ali Riley believes the club took a step forward, especially considering the short amount of time that Ertz has had to train with the club.

“I hate losing but I don’t think the score reflected how we performed and I hope people see that,” Riley said. “Tonight, I truly believe that this is a turning point for us.”

This was the first of four meetings between the rivals. They will meet once more in league play (June 17 in San Diego) and twice in the Challenge Cup (June 28 at home and Aug. 5 in San Diego).

“I think it’s always good to win a rivalry (game),” Wave FC defender Naomi Girma said. “I think this has already become one of the biggest rivalries in the league, so it’s a really good feeling to come to this stadium and to come away with the win.”

Angel City will be away for its next two games, a league game Saturday against Portland and a Challenge Cup game against OL Reign.

“I’m having so much fun playing with them,” Ertz said. “Obviously today is not the scoreline that we want, but to be able to put a performance together, having something that we can grow off of. ... I hate losing so much, so it sounds weird, but I did have so much fun.