After suffering a tough 2-1 loss to Kansas City in the regular season opener on March 23, the San Diego Wave looks to get some sweet revenge along with its first victory against the team that knocked it out of last year’s playoffs in the Seattle Reign (previously OL Reign) at Snapdragon Stadium on Friday.

San Diego is one of two teams, along with Gotham FC, that have played just one regular season match due to the Challenge Cup final, which it won 1-0 on a late second-half goal from forward Alex Morgan. Seattle has played two games, earning a 1-0 victory over Washington followed by a 2-1 defeat to the Chicago Red Stars.

“We’ve never beaten Reign, so we’re going to have to do something on Friday night that we’ve never done before,” said Wave head coach Casey Stoney. “The semifinal was a long time ago and teams have changed a lot since then. They’re are also coming off a loss too, so it’s going to be an interesting game.”

When you combine regular season, post-season, and Challenge Cup play, the Wave and Reign have faced each other nine times in the previous two seasons with the team from Seattle winning seven and the other two ending in draws.

Seattle Reign lost 2-1 to Gotham FC in the 2023 NWSL championship match played at Snapdragon Stadium and no longer have the services of former USWNT star Megan Rapinoe who retired at the end of last season or those of midfielder Rose Lavelle who now plays for Gotham FC and was recently omitted from the upcoming SheBelieves Cup roster due to injury.

“The result didn’t go our way last week, but it wasn’t a terrible performance,” Stoney added. “We need to create more and reduce the amount of chances they have.”

San Diego Wave will go on the road to take on Racing Louisville on April 13 and Orlando Pride on April 19 before returning home for a meeting versus Bay FC on April 27.

Photo by David Frerker