San Diego Wave earned a 2-0 victory over Kansas City Current at Children’s Mercy Park on Sunday, which gives the team, led by head coach Casey Stoney, 12 points after seven matches while also ending a two-game losing streak.
San Diego scored both its goals in the first half with forward Alex Morgan drawing first blood in the 26th minute after her right-footed shot ricocheted off the post and then bounced off the back of goalkeeper Adrianna Franch and into the net.
“Our front three were unbelievable tonight,” said Stoney. “Alex Morgan did not stop running and working. Rachel Hill probably had the best performance I’ve seen her have. And, you know, Sofia (Jakobsson) also had a couple of chances.”
The Wave extended the lead in the 44th minute when defender Christen Westphal forced a turnover deep in the Kansas City end and calmly found teammate Isabella Briede all alone in the center of the box. The 24-year-old midfielder then placed her shot in the top corner and by the outstretched arms of Franch gave her team what turned out to be an insurmountable advantage for the final 45 minutes.
The Current did its best to regain the momentum in the second half, but goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan came up with some critical interventions including a great save on the free-kick shot from 20-yards-away by forward Debinha. This was the third clean sheet for Sheridan this season with the others coming in the 1-0 victory over the Portland Thorns on April 19 and the 2-0 win over Angel City FC on April 23.
“I thought they defended very, very well, we created and scored,” Stoney added. San Diego now travels to Shell Energy Stadium to take on the Houston Dash on May 20 to close out its three-game road trip before returning home to face the Portland Thorns on May 26 at Snapdragon Stadium.
Photo courtesy: San Diego Wave FC
