After suffering an agonizing 2-1 defeat to the Seattle Reign at Lumen Field on May 3, San Diego Wave looks to rebound against the Utah Royals on Wednesday, May 8 at Snapdragon Stadium.

The loss to Seattle left a bad taste for the team, led by head coach Casey Stoney, which scored first in the 11th-minute courtesy of forward Kyra Carusa and enjoyed a one-player advantage after a red card was issued to Seattle two minutes earlier.

“Ultimately, we had chances and shots on goal, but were not good enough,” said Stoney. “We should have won the game and there’s no excuse for that.”

The Wave were without the services of key players in forwards Alex Morgan and Sofia Jakobsson along with defenders Abby Dahlkemper and Naomi Girma, plus the absence of midfielder Melanie Barcenas.

The dramatic comeback by the Reign started when forward Bethany Balcer stole the ball from the foot of Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan in the 34th minute and proceeded to tap the ball in from point-blank range. Seattle proceeded to score the game-winner in the 89th minute off a free-kick header by forward Veronica Latsko that curled just over the head of Sheridan.

San Diego had several chances in the final minutes to tie the match but Seattle goalkeeper Laurel Ivory came up big when she was called upon. To make matters worse, Wave defender Kristen McNabb was issued a red card in the final moments, which will make her unavailable for the game against Utah.

As for the Utah Royals, which is playing its inaugural season in the NWSL, that team is coming off a 2-1 defeat to Angel City FC and sits in last place with one victory this season.

The Wave will look to get the much-needed three points in front of the home fans knowing that its following opponent will be the defending champion Gotham FC on Sunday, May 12, also at Snapdragon Stadium. The two teams last faced each other in the Challenge Cup final on March 15 at Red Bull Arena with SD Wave coming out on top 1-0 courtesy of an 88th minute goal by Alex Morgan.

Photo by San Diego Wave