San Diego Wave earned a huge point after a 2-2 tie on Wednesday night against the Portland Thorns at Torero Stadium by overcoming a two-goal deficit and questionable calls from the officials.
Portland drew first blood on a 22nd minute penalty kick conversion by forward Sophia Smith after she was clipped by the foot of defender Kristen McNabb inside the box.
San Diego would not get the same courtesy later in the half when forward Sofia Jakobsson was taken down in a much more blatant fashion but no call was given.
The Thorns would extend the lead on the first play of the second half when forward Christine Sinclair got in between Wave defenders and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan for the 2-0 lead.
“We’ve learned that every game is a battle, home or away,” said defender Naomi Girma. “We need to keep making sure that we get any points in any game we can. That has been our biggest takeaway in order to stay at the top of the standings.”
The Wave did not give up but instead kept pressing the attack, which eventually paid off in the 81st minute when a corner kick by midfielder Emily van Egmond bounced around and eventually found teammate Taylor Kornieck who right-footed the ball into the upper corner of the net to make the score 2-1.
Kornieck, who was recently called up by the U.S. women’s national team to play alongside teammate Alex Morgan, made her presence felt again in the 88th minute using all of her 6 feet 1 inch height to score on a header from five yards out courtesy of a beautiful cross by defender Christen Westphal for the 2-2 final.
“I’m playing with some of the best players in the league and under (head coach Casey Stoney),” said Kornieck. “I feel so grateful. I’ve seen my growth over the last two years and I owe it all to this team.”
Both of her goals came after a shot by Jakobsson that replay showed clearly crossed the line after bouncing off the post but was not given as a goal to San Diego. Despite all this, the draw with Portland allows the Wave to stay on top of the NWSL standings with 14 points after eight matches as the team prepares to take on OL Reign in its next match this Sunday afternoon at Torero Stadium.
“We are a different team when we play at home and it’s because of the thousands of fans that get behind the players,” said Stoney. “They give us the extra energy and motivation, they’re incredible.”
The match on Sunday, June 12 against OL Reign will be a rematch from the last time they faced each other back on May 29 at Lumen Field when the team from Seattle came out with a 1-0 win.
Photo courtesy: San Diego Wave
