San Diego Wave earned a point against the defending NWSL champion Gotham FC on Sunday at Snapdragon Stadium in a 1-1 draw that could have seen several more scores by each side.

San Diego tied despite missing several key players due to injury including forwards Alex Morgan and Sofia Jakobsson along with defender Naomi Girma.

Gotham FC opened up the scoring in the 25th minute after forward Ella Stevens right-footed her shot from eight yards out past the goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. The Wave almost tied the match in the 35th minute when forward Jaedyn Shaw found teammate Mya Jones inside the box, but her shot was deflected by goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.

Gotham came close to extending the lead in the 53rd minute when midfielder Emily Sonnett forced a turnover and found teammate Esther Gonzalez on a breakaway, but the shot was saved by Sheridan with the ball ricocheting off the crossbar.

San Diego made some adjustments after halftime including bringing in midfielder María Sánchez to create more scoring opportunities for the home side. Sánchez made her presence felt in the 59th minute when her free-kick from 25 yards out almost found the top corner of the net if it wasn’t for an incredible diving save from Berger.

SD Wave did not have to wait long after that to find the tying score when the corner kick by midfielder Savannah McCaskill found defender Hanna Lundkvist who somehow headed the ball in from close range.

The draw gives San Diego Wave 11 points after eight games as well as the eight-seed in the standings while Gotham has 12 points in the same number of matches with the seventh seed. The Wave will go on a two-game road trip starting with a rematch versus Bay FC on Friday, May 17, followed by a meeting against Angel City FC on May 23 before returning home to take on the Orlando Pride on June 7.

Photo by San Diego Wave