After earning a hard-fought 1-1 draw versus Angel City FC on the road in the regular season opener, San Diego Wave FC takes on the Utah Royals at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium.

San Diego defeated Utah both times last season by a combined scoreline of 4-1 including a 2-1 road victory on Sept. 14. The Royals finished in 11th place last year, also its inaugural NWSL season, with 25 points which were the same as the Wave but with a worse goal-differential.

Utah is coming off a 1-1 draw against Bay FC on March 15 and features the likes of former San Diego Wave defender Madison Pogarch who came in as a substitute late in that match along with the talents of forward Bianca Rose St-Georges who scored in the 12th minute.

On March 11, 2023, Ryan Smith and David Blitzer, whose groups had jointly purchased ownership of Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer, announced that they would exercise their option to launch an NWSL team alongside investment from a group known as 42 Futbol Group composed of Jessica Gelman, Daryl Morey, and Amy Reinhard. The Utah Royals then came in as a new expansion team beginning play in the 2024 NWSL season alongside Bay FC. The agreement reportedly allowed the Royals to enter the league at a considerably lower expansion fee compared to that of Bay FC, which made the playoffs as the seventh seed.

San Diego Wave and the Royals will face each other again on Oct. 11 at America First Field.

Photo by San Diego Wave