San Diego Wave
San Diego remained on top of the standings after an impressive 3-0 victory over Gotham FC on Sunday afternoon at Red Bull Arena. The team, led by head coach Casey Stoney, got two more goals from forward Alex Morgan who now has a league-leading 11, which is the highest-scoring season of her NWSL career despite only playing 10 games this season.
San Diego got the scoring off in the 20th minute after teammate Taylor Kornieck stole the ball from Gotham FC and sent a quick pass into the box to a streaking Morgan who calmly shot the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris for the 1-0 lead.
The home team had its best chance to tie the game in the 40th minute when striker Ifeoma Onumonu got past the Wave defense with her shot bouncing off the post after goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan came out quickly to pressure her.
San Diego Wave capitalized on that missed opportunity in the 43rd minute when forward Sofia Jakobsson found Morgan streaking into the box yet again and tapping the ball in from point-blank range for the 2-0 lead at halftime.
The Wave put the game away in the 68th minute when Morgan found teammate Makenzy Doniak who shot the ball from 12 yards out to the top corner for the 3-0 final.
San Diego Wave outscored Gotham FC 7-0 over their two matches this season with six of those goals coming from Morgan who now has 49 goals in her NWSL career only two behind Jessica McDonald for fourth place all-time.
When I asked Casey Stoney during the postgame if she expected her team would be leading the league at this point, considering it’s their rookie season and based upon their performance in the Challenge Cup, the answer was: “No, but I know what I got in my locker room. I know what my players are capable of and we drive standards every single day to try and achieve results.”
The Wave now has two weeks until its next match, which will be at home against defending champion Washington Spirit on July 3 at Torero Stadium before traveling to face Angel City FC on July 9.
Albion San Diego
After a convincing 3-0 win on June 15 over Syracuse Pulse, Albion ended its two-game road trip with a 2-2 draw versus Flower City Union on Saturday afternoon.
It looked like San Diego was going to come out with the win thanks to goals from forward Alioune Diakhate, who leads the team with five goals this season, and defender Harold Hanson as the team held a lead 2-1 in the final minutes.
Unfortunately, Flower City found the back of the net in the 90th minute, which gave both sides a point each with San Diego earning four out of a possible six over its last two matches.
The draw on Saturday turned out to be enough to place the team, led by head coach Ziggy Korytoski, in second place in the NISA west division standings after Chattanooga FC blew out Bay Cities FC later that evening by a score of 3-0. These combined results place both Albion and Bay Cities FC with 18 points each but with San Diego enjoying a +7 goal differential, which is four goals better than Bay Cities which has played three more matches.
Albion San Diego will now have to wait until July 2 for its next game against rival LA Force since its match versus Valley United FC scheduled for June 24 at Canyon Crest Academy has been postponed by the league until further notice.
San Diego Loyal
Despite taking an early lead thanks to an absolute golazo from 20-yards out from forward Alejandro Guido that even made the ESPN SportsCenter Top Ten highlights on Saturday, San Diego Loyal fell 2-1 at home to the Las Vegas Lights.
San Diego created plenty of chances throughout the match including having a penalty kick opportunity in the sixth minute that midfielder Jack Blake took. Man of the match and goalkeeper Tomas Romero, who is playing with Las Vegas on loan from LAFC of Major League Soccer and also plays for the Salvadorian national team, was up to the task of blocking the attempt.
Romero came up big particularly in the second half when he deflected a shot by forward Kyle Vassell with a fingertip save and a header in the final seconds of the match from forward Andrew Carleton who had come in as a substitute in the 79th minute.
Despite the result, San Diego Loyal still finds itself in third place in the USL Championship standings tied with three other teams all with 25 points. The team, led by head coach Landon Donovan, is no longer with the services of goalkeeper Jon Kempin who was called back by DC United of Major League Soccer and who only played one match during his return to San Diego.
San Diego Loyal has two more home games as part of its three-game home stand with its next match being on June 25 against Indy Eleven followed by a game against the defending champion Orange County SC on June 29.
Hector Trujillo has been covering soccer starting with the San Diego State University men’s soccer team in 2003 for The Daily Aztec. A graduate of SDSU where he received his B.A. and M.A. degrees, Trujillo has a lifelong passion for playing and writing about the beautiful game.
Photos courtesy of San Diego Wave FC, Albion San Diego, San Diego Loyal
