The San Diego Wave’s chances to make the playoffs for a third straight season took another, potentially defining, hit on Saturday after a 2-1 road defeat to the North Carolina Courage.

With San Diego behind 2-0 at halftime, interim head coach Landon Donovan’s adjustments paid dividends. The visitors played better during the second half in terms of possession and scoring opportunities.

The pressure paid off in the 84th minute when defender Hanna Lundkvist scored on a header, which came off a corner kick beating goalkeeper Casey Murphy. The final seconds saw a fierce attack from the San Diego Wave that almost ended up tying the game and included a check by the upstairs VAR referee for a potential handball inside the box. The check was to no avail as North Carolina ended up with the win to extend its home undefeated streak to 20 games.

The loss puts SD Wave in a precarious position where another loss in either of its final three regular-season matches would guarantee it can finish with no more than 28 points overall. That is the same amount that both Portland and Bay FC have as those two teams hold the seventh and eighth spots respectively. If all three finish tied in points, it would come down to goal differential as the tiebreaker with the Thorns holding a solid advantage over both Bay FC and San Diego in that regard but with the Wave slightly better than Bay FC.

Racing Louisville is also chasing the final playoff spot holding a three-point advantage over the Wave as the two sides will face each other in the regular season finale at Snapdragon Stadium on Nov. 3 with Angel City also lurking and tied in points with San Diego but slightly behind in goal differential.

San Diego next plays against the Houston Dash on Sunday, Oct. 13 at Snapdragon Stadium followed by a Concacaf W Champions Cup match versus Club América on Wednesday, Oct. 16.

Photo by San Diego Wave