San Diego Wave FC came out with a dramatic 2-2 draw against the Washington Spirit at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday night to maintain sixth place in the NWSL standings. The Spirit took the lead in the 23rd minute when forward Ashley Hatch converted a penalty kick after being fouled inside the box by Wave goalkeeper Jessica Yáñez Couey.

After going into halftime trailing, the home side was able to tie the match just moments into the second half when forward Jaedyn Shaw executed a corner kick that eventually found teammate CJ Shorts who was able to beat goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart in the 46th minute.

Washington quickly regained the lead in the 54th minute when Shorts accidentally deflected the ball into the back of her own net trying to prevent a cross into the box.

When it looked like San Diego Wave would suffer its fourth-straight loss in league play, midfielder Kelsey Turnbow gave a pinpoint pass to teammate Taylor Kornieck who used all of her 6 feet 1-inch height to head the ball past the outstretched arms of Barnhart. It was Kornieck’s first goal of the regular season, which salvaged a valuable point for the team led by head coach Casey Stoney.

San Diego Wave will now play three UKG Challenge Cup matches in a row starting on July 21 versus the Portland Thorns at Providence Park, a trip to Seattle to play OL Reign on July 28, and a rematch against rival Angel City FC on Aug. 5 at Snapdragon Stadium.

Albion San Diego came out with an impressive 2-0 victory over LA Force on Saturday evening at Canyon Crest Academy Stadium to take over the second seed in the NISA standings. After a scoreless first half that Albion mostly dominated in terms of possession and scoring chances, the home team took the lead in the 59th minute when defender Anthony Patti took a shot that LA goalkeeper Jakob Hansen deflected straight to the foot of midfielder Cyrus Tran who calmly put the ball into the back of the net. LA Force created several chances on their counterattacks, but Albion goalkeeper Ben Roach was up to the task in each instance with timely reactions including one late in the second half on a one versus one opportunity for LA Force defender Erick Villatoro.

The visitors complicated matters for themselves in the 82nd minute when forward Santiago Echavarria was issued a red card for intentional aggressive contact with Albion defender Ernest Mitchell. Albion San Diego was able to take advantage in the 94th minute when forward Lennyn Carreon got past the Force defense scoring on a long-range shot that beat Hansen who was unable to recover after leaving his line. The team led by head coach Diego Gomez now has 18 points after 11 matches and now goes on a three-game road trip starting on July 14 versus Gold Star FC Detroit.

San Diego Loyal came out with a 2-0 road victory over Hartford Athletic on Saturday putting the team led by head coach Nate Miller in fifth place of the USL Championship western conference standings. SD Loyal took the lead in the 18th minute when forward Evan Conway ran into the box and shot the ball by oncoming Hartford Athletic goalkeeper Joe Rice. San Diego Loyal extended the lead in the 61st minute when forward Tumi Moshobane found Conway wide open in front of the Hartford goal to get his brace from six yards out and put the game out of reach. Goalkeeper Koke Vegas had another great performance keeping the home team at bay in the limited chances they created on the offensive end to help give San Diego Loyal its first win since May 20 when it defeated Miami FC 3-2.

The Loyal will wrap up its four-game road trip by taking on the Colorado Switchbacks on July 14 before returning home to face Borussia Dortmund of the German Bundesliga in an exhibition game on July 27 at Snapdragon Stadium.

Photos courtesy: David Frerker, San Diego Loyal, John Cocozza Photography