San Diego Wave came out with a 2-0 road victory over rival Angel City FC at BMO Stadium on Sunday, which places the team, led by head coach Casey Stoney, in a three-way tie for second place in the NWSL standings.
After a scoreless first half that saw few scoring chances created by both sides, San Diego forward Sofia Jakobsson gave the visitors the lead with a solid left-footed shot in the 70th minute from inside the box that beat goalkeeper Dijana Haračić. The goal was especially sweet for the Swedish national team striker since it came on her 33rd birthday and turned out to be the game-winner thanks to a dominating performance from the defensive backline and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.
The Wave got an insurance goal to put the match away in the 75th minute from midfielder Makenzy Doniak, who also came in as a substitute when her long-range shot got deflected by the Angel City defense and beat the outstretched arms of Haračić making the score 2-0.
San Diego now returns home to take on the winless Orlando Pride at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, April 29. The Wave currently sits one point behind league-leader Portland Thorns in the NWSL standings after four matches.
SAN DIEGO LOYAL
San Diego Loyal earned a 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Sunday at Torero Stadium to place the team, led by head coach Nate Miller, alone in second place in the USL Championship western conference standings.
The lone goal of the game came in the 42nd minute when the Haitian Sensation, Ronaldo Damus, sent a quick pass to teammate Tumi Moshobane that drew the Tampa Bay defenders toward the ball. This allowed Moshobane to find midfielder Adrien Perez with space and after one move took a left-footed shot from just inside the box that beat goalkeeper Connor Sparrow. San Diego Loyal made the lead stand up in the second-half thanks to excellent midfield play and key interventions from goalkeeper Duran Ferree who replaced Koke Vegas in the starting lineup.
The Loyal now get ready to take on Major League Soccer side Seattle Sounders on Wednesday, April 26 in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup after having defeated Albion San Diego in its second-round match on April 5 at the SDSU Sports Deck. San Diego Loyal plays its next home game on Saturday, April 29 versus El Paso Locomotive.
ALBION SAN DIEGO
Albion San Diego bounced back from a defeat to Chattanooga FC in the regular season opener. The team earned a dramatic 1-1 draw versus LA Force at Championship Stadium in Irvine on Sunday night. Albion took the lead in the 48th minute courtesy of a brilliant goal by forward Shinya Kadono who placed his right-footed shot in the upper corner out of the reach of goalkeeper Brandon Gomez. The former Cal United Strikers player is familiar playing at Championship Stadium having spent his NISA career playing home games there for the Strikers before signing with Albion earlier this year.
It appeared that Albion had extended the lead a few minutes later off a rebound, but forward Jonathan Bazaes was deemed offside, which nullified the goal. LA Force ended up tying the match in the 91st minute when forward Ivan Hernandez got between the defenders and headed the ball by goalkeeper Ben Roach. Roach came up big moments later preventing LA Force from scoring on a clear breakaway opportunity in the final play of the game to keep it at 1-1.
Albion San Diego now has a couple of weeks off until its next match at Canyon Crest Academy Stadium on Sunday, May 7 versus Gold Star FC Detroit.
SAN DIEGO SOCKERS
The San Diego Sockers were eliminated in the MASL western conference finals by the Chihuahua Savage 1-0 on Friday night at Pechanga Arena on a golden goal in the playoff mini-game. After falling at Chihuahua 6-5 in the series opener, the Sockers won the second match in resounding fashion 6-2 and looked well on their way to pulling off the same feat as they did in the 2022 Ron Newman Cup semifinals when the team, led by head coach Phil Salvagio, came back to beat the Chihuahua Savage after dropping game one. Those hopes came to an end when Chihuahua striker Carlos Hernandez took a shot from 15 yards out that beat goalkeeper Boris Pardo earning the Savage a trip to the Ron Newman Cup finals where they will take on the Baltimore Blast. As for the Sockers, it marked an end to an impressive season and a third-straight Ron Newman Cup for the team, which would have also been a 17th title overall.
Photos courtesy: San Diego Wave FC, David Frerker, Eddie Trujillo
