San Diego Wave FC earned its first victory in over two months with a 2-1 victory over Gotham FC at Snapdragon Stadium holding on to the sixth and final playoff spot with six games left in the regular season.

The Wave opened up the scoring in the 17th minute courtesy of midfielder Makenzy Doniak, who scored the game-winner back on June 4 versus Gotham FC, off a beautiful pass from teammate Jaedyn Shaw.

“Jaedyn (Shaw) is such an amazing player,” said Doniak. “I love playing with her. She has such a great final pass and I always have that confidence around her.”

Forward Amirah Ali added one in the 85th minute thanks to a pinpoint assist from midfielder Melanie Barcenas. That assist was the first as a professional for the 15-year-old phenom and native San Diegan who is the youngest player in NWSL history.

Gotham got its only goal in the 102nd-minute courtesy of forward Katie Stengel beating goalkeeper Shae Yañez with a shot from outside the box. Yañez filled in for Kailen Sheridan due to the Canadian women’s national team player getting a red card in the June 24 match versus OL Reign.

The Wave was also without the services of midfielder Emily van Egmond and forward Sofia Jakobsson who represented their respective national teams in the third-place game of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, but saw the return of defender Naomi Girma and forward Alex Morgan who got the start.

San Diego now has 24 points, which is the same as OL Reign and only two points behind second-place North Carolina Courage and two points ahead of seventh-place Orlando Pride who will be the next opponent for the team on Aug. 25 at Exploria Stadium. Orlando came out with an impressive 3-1 victory on April 23 at Snapdragon Stadium when the two teams last met and is coming off a 5-0 home win over the Chicago Red Stars.

Foto cortesía: San Diego Wave