San Diego Wave FC earned its second victory in as many games after a 3-1 win over the North Carolina Courage on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium. San Diego Wave took the lead in the 39th minute after a beautiful pass from midfielder Taylor Kornieck found teammate Jaedyn Shaw who proceeded to beat the North Carolina defense and goalkeeper Casey Murphy with a left-footed shot to the top corner.
The home team extended the lead in the 48th minute when midfielder Danielle Colaprico took advantage of a turnover giving a quick pass to forward Alex Morgan who then entered the box catching the defenders flat-footed and placing her close-range shot past the outstretched arms of Murphy.
The 2022 Golden Boot winner got her brace in the 73rd minute after midfielder Makenzy Doniak took a shot from 10 yards out that deflected off the right hand of North Carolina defender Kiki Pickett and was deemed a penalty, which Morgan converted.
The Courage scored its only goal of the game in the 77th minute when Wave defender Naomi Girma fouled forward Kerolin with the Brazilian national team player converting the well-placed penalty kick past goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.
San Diego now has a couple of weeks off until the next match on April 15 at Lumen Field in Seattle versus OL Reign. San Diego is currently tied with the Portland Thorns in first-place of the NWSL standings with six points and are the only two teams that have won both of their games to start the season.
SAN DIEGO LOYAL
San Diego Loyal came back from a two-goal deficit to earn a dramatic draw versus Phoenix Rising in Arizona on Saturday evening in front of over 10,000 fans attending the inaugural match of their new stadium in Arizona. Phoenix took the lead in the 35th minute after forward Manuel Arteaga got behind the Loyal defense and beat goalkeeper Koke Vegas from six-yards out. The Venezuelan striker extended the lead in the 63rd minute after he took advantage of a shot from teammate Emil Cuello while somehow managing to stay in an onside position and putting the ball away on a shot that Vegas had no chance to stop from such a short distance.
Despite the deficit, Loyal did not fold and continued creating scoring chances that eventually paid off in the 72nd minute courtesy of midfielder Nick Moon after taking a pinpoint pass from teammate Colin Martin and shooting the ball by goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo. The Loyal tied the game in the 80th minute when the Haitian Sensation Ronaldo Damus scored his second-goal of the season, both against Phoenix Rising, after winning the ball back after a series of rebounds inside the box with his shot just crossing the line.
San Diego Loyal now sits in third-place of the western conference standings with seven points after four matches as the team led by head coach Nate Miller now gets ready for its second-round US Open Cup game against Albion San Diego at the SDSU Sports Deck on April 5.
SD SOCKERS
The San Diego Sockers closed out the regular season with a 10-game winning streak and a 22-2 overall record thanks to a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Tacoma Stars at Pechanga Arena. The win came courtesy of defender Juan Manuel Rojo’s hat-trick and golden-goal 1:39 into overtime, which helped his team finish with 62 points overall. The Sockers also ended up going 12-0 at home this season, which extends the team’s home winning streak to 22 games dating back to last season. The Sockers now await the winner of the elimination game between the Mesquite Outlaws versus Tacoma Stars on Wednesday to see who its opponent will be for the first round of the playoffs.
ARENAL DE GÓMEZ FC
Arenal de Gómez FC bounced back from a tough loss to Escondido FC in the UPSL season opener with a resounding 7-0 blowout victory over Southwest SC on Sunday at San Diego Mesa College. The defending So Cal South Premier defending champion took a 2-0 lead into halftime thanks to two solid strikes from forward Mario Rubio. ADG FC tacked on three-straight goals from last-season’s leading scorer Cesar Romero followed up by one more from former SDSU Aztec Jeroen Meefout and one from teammate Kevin Pizeno. ADG FC’s next game is on the road versus Nomads SC on April 8 followed up by a home game versus City SC Temecula on April 15.
Photos courtesy: San Diego Wave FC, San Diego Loyal, Eddie Trujillo, and ADG FC
