San Diego Wave FC came out with its most important victory of the season on Saturday during Hispanic Heritage Night as the team, led by head coach Casey Stoney, officially said goodbye to Torero Stadium with a 3-1 victory over the Houston Dash.
The Wave was coming off back-to-back losses to Kansas City and Orlando, respectively, that saw the team drop to fourth place in the NWSL standings, but now finds itself tied for first place on points trailing the Portland Thorns and ahead of Houston on goal differential.
The Dash took the lead in the 7th minute when forward Ebony Salmon scored on a shot from inside the box that beat goalkeeper Carly Telford who was filling in for Kailen Sheridan. That lead did not last, however, thanks to San Diego forward Alex Morgan’s 50th career NWSL goal from a quick pass by midfielder Taylor Kornieck in the 11th minute. The goal puts Morgan in fifth place all-time in league scoring.
San Diego took the lead in the 67th minute when forward Amirah Ali put the ball away from point-blank range after a precise pass from teammate Makenzy Doniak found her in front of goalkeeper Jane Campbell.
If the 2-1 scoreline had held, Houston would have still retained second place in the standings, however, striker Sofia Jakobsson gave the home fans one last memory to celebrate from the last match at Torero Stadium when she took a pass from Doniak all the way into the box putting her left-footed shot from six-yards out in the back of the net for the 3-1 final.
“We want to finish as high as we possibly can,” said Stoney. “We’ve had a bit of a different form recently, which you’ve seen us drop a few points. I’m very proud of the growth of this team over a short space of time.”
San Diego Wave now heads to face the Portland Thorns on Aug. 27 in another match with huge playoff implications. The last time these two teams met it ended with a controversial draw where a goal from Jakobsson, that replay showed clearly crossed the line, was not given.
SAN DIEGO LOYAL
San Diego Loyal pulled within five points of first place in the USL Championship Western Conference standings after a 3-1 road win over El Paso Locomotive on Saturday evening.
San Diego dominated in terms of scoring opportunities and possession throughout the match taking the lead in the 17th minute when striker Kyle Vassell took a long pass from midfielder Jack Blake and put it past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Evan Newton.
El Paso almost tied the score in the 39th minute when a close-range shot from midfielder Dylan Mares hit the post and bounced straight to goalkeeper Koke Vegas.
San Diego extended the lead in the 43rd minute when midfielder Charlie Adams found teammate Thomas Amang streaking down the middle of the box and proceeded to shoot the ball in the back of the net.
El Paso cut the lead in half after a 70th-minute corner kick goal, known in the sport as an olímpico, executed by Mares that appeared to catch all the SD Loyal players including Vegas by surprise. The Loyal put the game away in the 76th minute off a free kick from Charlie Adams that found teammate Evan Conway who headed the ball in from two yards out for the 3-1 final.
“Very good performance from the team, the only fault was not scoring more goals,” said San Diego Loyal head coach Landon Donovan. “We created probably 12 or 15 really good chances to score. Our guys made plays all over the field but especially in front of goal.”
This was San Diego’s first win in Texas since joining the league in 2020. The team now returns home to face Oakland Roots on Wednesday at Torero Stadium. The previous meeting between the two clubs ended in a 2-2 tie thanks to a last-second goal by Oakland forward Óttar Karlsson.
ALBION SAN DIEGO
Albion San Diego earned a valuable point on Saturday against California United Strikers at Championship Stadium in Irvine thanks to a dramatic 1-1 tie. Albion San Diego entered the game in second place in the NISA West Division standings behind Cal United who had lost only once in its last 17 matches dating back to last season.
After falling behind early when forward Omar Nuño scored in the 6th minute on a deflected free kick from just outside the box, both teams played each other evenly for the remainder of the half.
Albion tied the score in the 44th minute when midfielder Walter Varela found teammate Alioune Diakhate in the box who was then able to tap the ball by goalkeeper Jean Antoine for his eighth goal of the season, which is second best in the league only behind Chattanooga FC forward Markus Naglestad.
The man of the match for Albion was without a doubt goalkeeper Ben Roach who made several key saves in the second half including a spectacular two-handed deflection in the 85th minute along with a sensational 87th-minute fingertip save to keep the match tied. Roach also made a fantastic save on another free kick shot from Nuño in the 66th minute that he smothered with both arms.
“The game had a bit of everything with both teams creating enough to take all three points,” said Albion head coach Ziggy Korytoski. “I thought the keepers made some great saves to keep their teams in the game and I was really happy on our side how for about 70 minutes we controlled much of the space with and without the ball.”
This was the first league match for Albion since it played LA Force on July 2 and its first competitive game since it defeated Capo FC in the NISA Independent Cup Southern California Region final. Next up for Albion San Diego is a match against Flower City Union on Aug. 27 at Canyon Crest Academy Stadium.
“It’s great to have a couple of games back under our belt with the opportunity to develop a little bit of rhythm and looking forward to Flower City next week.” The last time both teams met was on June 18 at Rochester Community Sports Complex with the game ending in a draw.
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.
Wave and Albion photos courtesy of David Frerker.
Loyal photo courtesy of San Diego Loyal.
