Spring quickly flows into summer and that evokes thoughts of the sun and surf here in Southern California.
It’s time to catch the wave. The San Diego Wave FC, that is.
The third-year National Women’s Soccer League club continues to draw fans and continues to provide
that growing fan base with an exciting on-field product. The Wave also continues its winning tradition, which may be the biggest plus.
San Diego defeated NWSL newcomer Bay FC, 2-1, in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd
Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium.
Midfielder Makenzy Doniak scored the game’s opening goal in the 13th minute, assisted by midfielder Kimmi Ascanio.
For most of the early going, the first-year Bay Area team played much like an expansion
team while having difficulty getting the ball out of its own end.
After the Wave’s go-ahead goal, however, Bay Area FC seemed to gain confidence in what it was doing and began to push forward and challenge the host team.
Bay FC, in fact, tied the match in the 48th minute as the visitors came out on the attack to start the second half. Defender Kayla Sharples’ head shot glanced off the crossbar, falling directly to the feet of forward Asisat Oshoala, who calmly poked the ball into the net.
But the Wave proved resilient and scored the game-winner in the 78th minute on forward Jaedyn Shaw’s first goal of the season. Midfielder Savannah McCaskill passed to second-half
substitute Elyse Bennett, who hit a flawless pass to Shaw, who put a close-range shot past Bay Fc goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx.
Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan was credited with two saves while Proulx was credited with three.
The match was far from lopsided.
Bay FC notched nine corner kicks to four for the Wave and recorded 51 percent of possession time. Bay FC out-shot the Wave 22-13.
The Wave did show more veteran experience with five shots on target compared to just two for the visitors.
Corner kicks
The NWSL is the highest division of women’s professional soccer in the United States and the United States women’s national team.
Fourteen teams will be competing in one division for this year’s regular season championship (NWSL Shield). Each team will play 26 regular season games (13 home and 13 away).
There are now six teams west of the Rocky Mountains and three in California (Wave, Bay FC and Angel City FC).
Playoffs are reserved for the top eight teams in the point standings, with all eight teams competing in the quarterfinal round.
Bay FC is one of two “new” teams added to the league’s membership in 2024, a revival
of the Utah Royals FC being the other.
The Wave has qualified for the playoffs in both its previous seasons, reaching the semifinals in both 2022 and 2023.
The Wave qualified for the NWSL quarterfinal playoffs after finishing third in the regular season standings. The Wave defeated the Chicago Red Stars in front of a crowd of 30,854 at Snapdragon Stadium to advance to the semifinals against the Portland Thorns. The Wave lost, 2-1, to the Thorns on a goal in the final minutes of the game.
The San Diego club enjoyed an even better 2023 sophomore season by winning the NWSL Shield with two regular season games remaining. The Wave earned a bye to the semifinals and once again played in front of a massive home crowd (league record 32,262) but ended its season with a 1-0 loss to the OL Reign.
Wave defender Naomi Grima earned accolades as U.S. Soccer’s Female Player of the Year.
The Thorns own the most NWSL Shields with three.
Bay FC plays its home matches at PayPal Park in San Jose, an 18,000-seat soccer specific stadium that is also home to the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer.
Bay FC was one of two expansion teams awarded by the NWSL for the 2024 season, coming with a price tag of $53 million.
The Utah Royals were reestablished in 2024 as the league’s second new team for 2024.
Like other women’s professional leagues preceding it, the NWSL has had its share of ups and downs, including numerous membership changes.
The Royals are a revival of the original Utah Royals FC, which operated from 2018-2020 before its player assets were transferred to the Kansas City Current, an expansion team. The Royals play in the same stadium as MLS side Real Salt Lake.
Bay FC features a roster virtually full of American-grown talent with only seven of the 26-rostered players owning foreign nationalities.
Attendance at NWSL matches has skyrocketed since its inaugural season in 2013 when the league averaged 4,270 fans per match. That number has since more than doubled to 10,432 last season, mostly thanks to the Wave’s record average of 20,718.
The Wave seems to draw larger crowds when the Padres are out of town. That’s an indicator that casual sports fans are gravitating to Wave matches to fulfil their pro sports fix.
But it’s the knowledgeable soccer fans that really give this club its kick. Fans even cheer on player substitutions, showing they really love the players.
It’s an awesome feeling of energy for anyone familiar with the Women’s United Soccer Association and the San Diego Spirit, which regularly played in front of crowds of 5,000 at 6,500-seat Torero Stadium.
The WUSA lasted three years before sinking in a financial sea of red ink. The hint that something magical was about to take place in the NWSL came in the Wave’s first match at Snapdragon Stadium when it drew a then league record crowd of 32,000 fans.
