April 27, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
San Diego Wave FC News Release
San Diego Wave FC (1-2-1, 4 points) return home to face Bay FC (2-2-1, 6 points) at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday night. The match kicks off at 7 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on ion.
This will be the first regular season meeting between San Diego and California’s newest expansion team. The two teams met once in the preseason where the Wave earned a 2-1 victory at the Coachella Valley Invitational on Feb. 20.
Last Time Out
In San Diego’s last match, the Wave fell to Orlando Pride in a 1-0 match on April 19 at Inter&Co Stadium. Orlando’s lone goal came in the 26th minute after goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan’s first save fell to the feet of Summer Yates who made the rebound, securing the game-winner. San Diego dominated the game in possession (54.1%) but the team was unable to get the ball in the back of the net. Sheridan made a regular-season-high seven saves on the night, including a one-v-one save against Orlando second-half substitute Barbra Banda.
Bay FC is coming off a 5-2 loss to the Kansas City Current at CPKC Stadium on April 20. The Current scored twice in the first six minutes of the match but the Bay got one on the board nearly 10 minutes later in the 17th minute with a goal from defender Kayla Sharples. Kansas City continued their scoring run by adding three more goals by the 73rd minute but the game wasn’t over before Bay FC forward Tess Boade recorded one more goal in the 78th minute for the away team.
Players to Watch
Bay FC’s Kayla Sharpes has scored in back-to-back matches, making her the first to do so in the club’s history and the only player to have scored multiple goals so far this season. Both of the defender’s goals have also come from headers off of corner kicks. Sharples’ holds a 100% shooting accuracy and a 90% passing accuracy heading into Saturday’s match.
For the Wave, who are missing key starters Sofia Jakobsson and Alex Morgan, all eyes will be on the attack this game. Jaedyn Shaw has been electric for country, becoming the first USWNT player to score a goal in each of her first five starts. However, the Wave have scored just three goals this season and none in the month of April.
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