San Diego Wave suffered its first home loss this season, 2-1, against the streaking Kansas City Current at Torero Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Kansas City came out red hot in the first half taking advantage of miscues by the Wave defense early that forced goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan to make her first save of the match in the 8th minute off a breakaway opportunity by midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta.
The visitors did not have to wait much longer to take the lead after forward CeCe Kizer, who did not play in the previous game between the two squads on June 4, was able to get a shot by the coverage of defender Naomi Girma in the 27th minute that Sheridan could not keep out.
The Current extended the lead in the 39th minute after midfielder Hailie Mace juked her way in between four San Diego players taking a shot from the edge of the box that ended up in the top left corner of the net.
It looked like Kansas City was going to put the game out of reach midway through the second half when a questionable penalty call was issued to defender Madison Pogarch in the 67th minute, however, Sheridan was up to the task of blocking the conversion attempt by LaBonta just moments later. This was Sheridan’s eighth penalty save of her NWSL career, which is the most by any goalkeeper in league history.
San Diego head coach Casey Stoney made several substitutions in the second half including bringing on forward Amirah Ali in the 76th minute. That decision paid off in the 88th minute when Ali scored from six yards out off a quick pass from teammate Makenzy Doniak to cut the lead in half, however, San Diego could not muster enough chances in the final four minutes of added time to tie the game.
San Diego remains in second place despite the loss and is still tied with first place Portland Thorns in points, but with a worse goal differential.
The Wave next plays Orlando Pride on Saturday, Aug. 13 in the second game of the homestand. Orlando is coming off a dramatic 2-2 draw versus Angel City FC and currently sits eighth in the standings.
LOYAL
San Diego Loyal had its biggest win of the season on Saturday evening at Torero Stadium after a dominating 3-0 performance against the No. 1 seeded San Antonio FC in front of the home fans.
Despite both teams going into halftime scoreless, San Diego created the better opportunities throughout the 90 minutes of play, putting the game away thanks to three second half goals first by forward Evan Conway in the 65th, defender Grant “La Mole” Stoneman in the 72nd, and Kyle Vassell in the 77th.
Goalkeeper Koke Vegas had another standout match with his second clean sheet in the last four games including some crucial saves in the first 45 minutes.
What made the victory of even greater significance is that San Diego was the only team in the USL Championship playoff standings that came out with a win over the weekend putting it within just four points of San Antonio and five points ahead of third-place Colorado Switchbacks.
Over the last eight matches the team, led by head coach Landon Donovan, has won seven with its only loss during that span coming on July 9 to LA Galaxy II. That was the match that saw defender Kyle Adams get ejected in the 11th minute with the red card being rescinded by the league later that week.
San Diego Loyal now faces expansion team Monterey Bay, which is undefeated over its last six matches and riding a four-game winning streak, on Wednesday evening at Torero Stadium.
Hector Trujillo has been covering soccer starting with the San Diego State University men’s soccer team in 2003 for The Daily Aztec. A graduate of SDSU where he received his B.A. and M.A. degrees, Trujillo has a lifelong passion for playing and writing about the beautiful game.
Photos courtesy of San Diego Loyal, David Frerker
