After accomplishing the impressive feat of being the first NWSL expansion team to make the playoffs, San Diego Wave Fútbol Club also became the first one to win a postseason game after defeating the Chicago Red Stars 2-1 in extra time in front of 26,215 fans at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday night.
San Diego fell behind in the 10th minute when forward Yūki Nagasato took advantage of a turnover from goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan chipping the ball over her head. After going into halftime down 1-0, the team, led by head coach Casey Stoney, came out with a sense of urgency to start the second half. The Wave tied the score in the 67th minute after forward Sofia Jakobsson crossed a pass in to the box that got deflected up in the air after she had streaked past the Chicago defense. It took a few seconds for the ball to come down and that’s when midfielder Emily van Egmond right-footed it from five yards out past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.
After the game ended in regulation tied 1-1, the match went into two 15-minute extra time periods to decide the outcome. It was Golden Boot winner Alex Morgan that ended up scoring the game-winner in the 110th minute with a left-footed angled strike from just inside the box that caught Naeher by surprise.
“So, I’m immensely proud. I thought we deserved it,” said Stoney. “If I’m honest, I think the second half, the amount of chances we created and didn’t take, I thought it was going to be a turning point in our season really, but that’s why to me Alex (Morgan) is MVP.”
San Diego now travels to take on the Portland Thorns on Sunday, Oct. 23, in the NWSL semifinal. The two teams faced each other twice during the regular season with the Wave winning the most recent match at Providence Park 2-0 on Aug. 27 after tying 2-2 on June 8 at Torero Stadium.
ADG FC came out with a dramatic 4-3 over SD Internacional FC on Saturday night at San Diego Mesa College to put them in first place in the Southern California South Conference with 15 points. The team, led by head coach Ray Gutierrez, got two more goals from forward Lorenzo Ramirez along with scores from teammates Gustavo Ibarra and Cesar Romero to help seal the victory. ADG now has five wins and one loss over its first six matches this season including riding a four-game winning streak placing them one point ahead of Nomads SC.
ADG FC now goes on the road to take on Cuervos FC in Spring Valley before returning home to take on Chula Vista FC on Nov. 5 at San Diego Mesa College. “Remember who you are. We are a team that when we put together performances where everyone is contributing playing together and are positive, we are a different team,” said ADG FC captain Andy Reyes. “We just needed to remember that and understand this is who we are.”
San Diego Loyal will take on the Oakland Roots on Sunday, Oct. 23 at Torero Stadium in its first-round USL Championship playoff game. The team, led by head coach Landon Donovan, finished as the second seed while the Roots got in as the seventh seed after finishing tied with El Paso Locomotive but with a +5 goal differential compared to the +4 by El Paso. San Diego Loyal and Oakland played each other twice this season the first game ending in a 2-2 draw on April 13 and the second ending in a 3-1 Oakland victory on Aug. 24.
Albion San Diego will take on the Maryland Bobcats on Friday, Oct. 21 at Canyon Crest Academy Stadium in the first-round NISA playoff game after finishing as the fourth-seed thanks to a 1-0 victory over Cal United Strikers in its regular-season finale on Oct. 8. The team, led by head coach Ziggy Korytoski, finished with 32 points and a 1.6 points per game average over 20 games compared to the Bobcats 30 points and a 1.30 average in 23 matches. The teams split both games they played this season with Albion winning the first by a score of 2-1 and dropping the second on the road 1-0.
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 David Frerker, @DoddStudios, and San Diego Loyal
