San Diego Wave took over first place in the NSWL standings thanks to a scoreless draw versus Racing Louisville on Friday, June 9 at Lynn Family Stadium, which came two days before the Orlando Pride 3-1 win over the Portland Thorns.

San Diego will now take on its Southern California rival Angel City FC at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, June 17 as the two teams continue with their dramatically different seasons. The Wave currently has 20 points, which is the same as the Washington Spirit but with a one-goal advantage in scoring differential, while Angel City is tied for last place with KC Current both with nine points.

San Diego is enjoying a five-game winning streak in league matches having only given up one goal during that span while Angel City has not won a match since it defeated KC Current 3-2 at home on May 7.

San Diego and LA faced each other on April 23 with the Wave, led by head coach Casey Stoney, coming out with a 2-0 victory at BMO Stadium with second-half goals from forward Sofia Jakobsson and midfielder Makenzy Doniak.

“We have to travel back, but make sure we have the two days because we have a huge game, it’s a derby game,” said Stoney. “But every game in this league is huge, I won’t treat it any differently. We’re back at home in front of our fans and we want to make sure that we can give our fans something to cheer for.”

San Diego currently has the second-best goal differential in the league at plus 6 while Angel City is at minus 7 and has given up 21 goals, which is second-worst behind only the Chicago Red Stars, which has given up 28 goals.

San Diego will follow up its game against Angel City with a match versus OL Reign on June 24 at Snapdragon Stadium.

Photo courtesy: San Diego Wave FC