Sitting in first place of the NWSL standings with 15 points and a +5 goal differential, San Diego Wave FC travels to Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., on Sunday, June 19, for a rematch with Gotham FC, a team they dominated 4-0 back on May 7 at Torero Stadium, thanks to the four-goal performance by forward Alex Morgan.

“Every single game we want to start on the front foot and be aggressive,” said Morgan.

San Diego is coming off a hard-fought 1-1 draw with OL Reign last Sunday while Gotham FC is coming off a 1-0 loss last Saturday against the Kansas City Current.

“We’ve really seen growth in our performances and our connections are great. We need to continue to take away the keys of what we’ve done well, which is going to be crucial for us the rest of this season,” said forward Kelsey Turnbow.

Despite the fact that Gotham City finds itself in seventh place and out of the playoffs if the postseason started today, the team led by head coach Scott Parkinson has only played six matches so far compared to the nine matches played by San Diego Wave.

“I do think that as an expansion team having played some really competitive games in preseason were helpful for us to get our feet underneath us,” Morgan added.

Despite their up and down start, Gotham FC still has players who are difference makers like defender Ali Krieger, who represented the United States at three FIFA Women’s World Cups: 2011 in Germany, 2015 in Canada, and 2019 in France.

She was part of the defense that held opponents scoreless for a record 540 minutes and helped lead the United States to become 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup champions along with forward Margaret Purce, who was called up to her first senior national team camp in November of 2021.

The game between San Diego and Gotham FC is at 1 p.m.

Photo courtesy: San Diego Wave