The rollercoaster ride that is the 2023 San Diego Wave continued last night in a 2-1 UKG Challenge Cup match defeat to Angel City at BMO Stadium, which was the second loss in the span of a week and a half to its northern rivals.
Where this up-and-down season seems to have taken a turn for the worse was in the 90th minute of the May 26 game at Snapdragon Stadium versus the Portland Thorns when Portland defender Reyna Reyes turned what looked like a sure three-points for the Wave into a heart-wrenching 1-1 draw.
Since then, the team led by head coach Casey Stoney has won just one of its following six games, two in Challenge Cup play, and has a minus 5 goal differential during that span.
The frustrating part isn’t that the team went from first place to sixth place in a matter of a couple of weeks, but the way this happened. Take the most recent home match versus OL Reign on June 24, where despite the fact that the Wave was able to bounce back from an early deficit, they had a chance to at least come out with a last-minute draw, but missed what in soccer is tantamount to a layup on a quick give and go between Alex Morgan and Amirah Ali.
Or the game against Angel City on June 17 in front of the home fans where the visitors came up with two second-half goals including the deciding one off a turnover 35 yards away from goal that quickly turned into a breakaway opportunity.
The fact that San Diego will now be without the services of five key players due to their respective national team duties in the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup doesn’t help matters either, but if things are to turn around it needs to happen in the upcoming match against the last-place Chicago Red Stars on Saturday. Chicago is coming in on a four-game losing streak having been outscored 14-3 during that stretch, which includes a 4-0 drubbing to the North Carolina Courage in Challenge Cup play on June 14.
The Wave has won all four meetings against the Red Stars including the dramatic 2-1 playoff quarterfinal at Snapdragon Stadium on Oct. 16, so it’s definitely a chance to turn things around with nine regular season matches left.
San Diego has shown it has the talent to compete with anyone and it’s just a matter of being decisive in the final touch and minimizing turnovers near the midfield that can lead to counter-attacks where the defenders are caught flat-footed.
I’m still sticking with my prediction that San Diego makes the playoffs and gets a first-round home game as Morgan, Naomi Girma, Sofia Jakobsson, Emily van Egmond, and Kailen Sheridan all return for the final stretch in what hopes to be another memorable run.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker
