This season for the San Diego Wave FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has been successful so far. After losing their first game against the Houston Dash at home, the team went on a five-game win streak, the longest in the franchise’s history. Scoring, however, declined slightly this season, with 17 goals through 11 games, compared to 25 last year. In their last game, they played to a 2-2 draw at Houston.
On Sunday, The Wave played at home against the Orlando Pride, who were coming off a 3-1 loss to the Denver Summit. Before the game started, a moment of silence was held for the victims of last Monday’s shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego.
Orlando was without one of their star players, Brazilian striker Marta. From the opening whistle, it seemed the teams were evenly matched. Both teams defended well, but despite several shots on goal, neither could put the ball in the net.
San Diego had two opportunities to take the lead, once in the 43rd minute when Brazilian forward Ludmila passed the ball to Dudinha, who missed it by inches to put the Wave in the lead.
4 minutes later, forward Gia Corley had a shot on goal, but the shot was saved by Orlando’s goalkeeper Anna Mourhouse. A minute later, Orlando’s forward Nicole Payne was able to get her shot past San Diego’s goalkeeper Didi Haracic in stoppage time to give the Pride a 1-0 lead at the half.
When the second half started, the defensive battle continued. Both teams passed the ball beautifully and created scoring opportunities, but it was not enough to get points on the board.
San Diego had a big chance in the 87th minute when Kristen McNabb lobbed the ball to forward Gabi Portilho, who headed the ball towards the goal, but it was saved by the fingertips of Mourhouse.
The final chance for San Diego was a free kick spurred from a foul by Orlando’s Ally Lemos, but the kick by Melanie Barcenas did not end in a score. The final whistle blew, and the game ended 1-0, leaving the Wave’s record at seven wins, one draw, and four losses and giving Orlando their fourth win.
Compared to last year’s mid-season standings, the Wave has almost identical win totals at this point in the season, but scoring has dipped slightly. In 2025, the team had scored 25 goals by mid-season; this year, they have scored only 17.
Jonas Eidevall is in his second season as head coach of the San Diego Wave, following three years with Arsenal Women’s Football Club. In his first year, he led San Diego to sixth place in the standings, earning the team a playoff berth, where they were eliminated by the Portland Thorns.
“I think it is a world of difference when you look at the underlying numbers,” Eidevall said about the team’s performance compared to last year’s team.
“We were super effective last season, and scored a lot of goals on not so many chances, and this year, it’s a little bit the other way and scored not that many goals as we probably should have.”
McNabb has been with the Wave since the beginning, having been selected by the team in the 2022 NWSL Expansion Draft. She said that in the team’s first five years, the fans have always shown up, no matter the result.
“The fans have been incredible. They’ve always supported us, even if the results are good or bad.” McNabb said.
San Diego’s final match will be on the road against the Chicago Stars on May 31 before the season break. They will resume the season at home on July 4th against the defending NWSL champions, Gotham FC.
