San Diego Wave Fútbol Club kicked off its inaugural season on Saturday night with a dramatic 1-1 draw against Angel City FC in their first match of the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup held at Titan Stadium on the campus of Cal State Fullerton.
The two expansion clubs went toe to toe for the entire match with the team from Los Angeles creating the better scoring opportunities in the first half but were denied by Olympic gold medalist goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.
The teams ended the first half in a scoreless tie with San Diego Wave head coach Casey Stoney making adjustments for the final 45 minutes, which included bringing in striker Alex Morgan and defender Kaleigh Riehl.
“[Alex Morgan] is a world-class player for a reason,” said Stoney. “We got up the pitch a hell of a lot more and looked a lot more threatening when she was on.”
Angel City would take the lead in the 49th minute courtesy of a beautiful cross from defender Ali Riley that found the head of midfielder Savannah McCaskill who positioned herself perfectly in between the San Diego defense putting the ball just by the outstretched arm of Sheridan.
Angel City would create another chance in the 56th minute on a quick counterattack led by forward Christen Press that ended up with forward Tyler Lussi inside the box forcing Sheridan to pressure and causing her shot that hit the post.
Sheridan would make her presence felt just a couple of minutes later when she saved a left-footed shot by Press from less than five yards out, but the Canadian goalkeeper’s kick reflexes were on display again deflecting the ball with a lunging righthanded save.
“I thought Kailen Sheridan showed the reason we signed her and she was world-class,” Stoney added. “Once everyone is fit and firing we can really build on our team and our philosophy.”
San Diego would create its first real chance to tie the game in the 68th minute off a corner kick that midfielder Taylor Kornieck was able to get her head on but was deflected by the Angel City defense, however, Kornieck was able to recover the ball and kick it with her right foot with the shot glancing off the side of the net.
San Diego continued to create chances and their pressure was rewarded in the 81st minute thanks to a beautiful corner kick from forward Marleen Schimmer that found the streaking Riehl who managed to get by the Angel City defenders pushing the ball with her upper body into the back of the net to tie the game.
Both teams earned a valuable point in the West Division standings with this result, which will see the winner of each of the three divisions qualify for the semifinal round along with the top second-place team.
“I mean, it’s so great to play in California in general, and then just being 15 minutes away from where I grew up, is really fun,” said San Diego Wave forward Alex Morgan. “I have a lot of memories on this field and then to see a packed stadium, I was really grateful to play Angel City but just in general for all of us to play our first official game of the year in front of this many fans was really fun.”
The five San Diego FC players who made their professional debuts on Saturday were Amirah Ali, Belle Briede, Kelsey Turnbow, Marleen Schimmer, and Naomi Girma. San Diego now heads back home for their second Challenge Cup match versus the defending tournament champion Portland Thorns on Saturday, March 26 followed by a rematch against Angel City FC, both at Torero Stadium.
