San Diego Wave FC will host the reigning NWSL champion Portland Thorns on Wednesday, April 19 at Snapdragon Stadium as the two teams face each other for the first time since last season’s dramatic semifinal match. Portland is tied with the Washington Spirit on top of the standings with seven points while the Wave is tied with OL Reign just one point behind the leaders after three matches.

“We’ll work on how we can get a result against Portland,” said Wave head coach Casey Stoney. “We’ll have to manage people as well in a three-game week. I just want them to start believing in the way they can play a little bit more.”

The Wave and Portland played twice during last year’s Challenge Cup with the Thorns coming out with 1-0 and 3-2 wins. The two sides met twice more during the regular season, first on June 8 settling for a 2-2 draw, and on Aug. 27 when San Diego Wave came out with the 2-0 road victory. Portland got its revenge in the semifinal round on Oct. 23 thanks to a 93rd-minute goal by midfielder Crystal Dunn for the 2-1 victory.

San Diego and Portland will meet once more during the Challenge Cup on July 21 at Providence Park but will have one regular season match in between on May 26 at Snapdragon Stadium with their fourth meeting coming late in the season on Sept. 30 in Portland.

Player to Watch: Sophia Smith

Smith finished second in goals last year behind Golden Boot winner Alex Morgan and currently leads the league in scoring with four goals in three games (one ahead of Morgan). The USWNT star played alongside San Diego midfielder Isabella Briede along with defenders Naomi Girma and Sierra Enge on the 2019 Stanford University team that won the national championship. She has been one of the best players in the NWSL since turning pro in 2020 and has 12 goals in 29 appearances for the USWNT after scoring 21 goals in 25 appearances for the U20 team.