San Diego Wave came out with a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Chicago Red Stars in front of 30,854 fans at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday night in the regular season opener, which was the largest attendance for a season-opening match in NWSL history.
Similar to last year’s quarterfinal, Red Stars midfielder Yūki Nagasato opened up the scoring this time by taking advantage of a corner kick in the 18th minute that bounced around inside the box where she was then able to deflect the ball past goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan for the 1-0 lead.
Sheridan came up big throughout the first half keeping the Wave within striking distance with forward Amirah Ali tying the game in the 22nd minute when her close-range header beat goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher once she mishandled a shot from defender Christen Westphal.
San Diego took the lead in the 32nd minute after midfielder Jaedyn Shaw’s perfectly struck right-footed strike from outside the box that found the bottom corner of the net. Chicago was able to tie the game four minutes into added time after a penalty was called on midfielder Danielle Colaprico, which forward Mallory Swanson converted via the ensuing penalty kick moments later.
Both teams traded scoring opportunities in the second half. Just when it appeared each side would leave with a point, San Diego forward Alex Morgan crossed a ball into the box that hit the right-hand of defender Arin Wright, which the referee deemed to be a penalty. Morgan then stepped up to the penalty stripe in the 89th minute and scored the game-winner, which she also did in the 2022 quarterfinal versus Chicago.
“The game was amazing,” said Morgan. “Thirty thousand in the stands kept us going. It was nice to get the penalty at the end, but winning in our first game feels good. Going into a season there’s no better feeling.”
San Diego Wave next faces the North Carolina Courage on April 1 at Snapdragon Stadium. The Courage is coming off a 1-0 home win over 2022 NWSL finalist Kansas City Current with the Wave earning a win and a draw versus North Carolina in their two head-to-head matches last season.
Photo courtesy: David Frerker
