September 28, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
San Diego Wave FC News Release
San Diego Wave FC (4-10-7, 19 points) returns home to host Portland Thorns (8-9-4, 28 points) on Saturday, Sept. 28 at Snapdragon Stadium for the club’s annual Latino Heritage Night, presented by McDonald’s. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. PT with tickets available here and the match will be broadcast live on ion.
The all-time record between San Diego and Portland stands at 4-5-2 in all competitions. The last meeting between the two clubs was less than two weeks ago on Sept. 18 a part of the Concacaf W Champions Cup. San Diego came back from trailing 2-0 to then win 3-2 with a goal and two penalties by Wave midfielder María Sánchez. Sophia Smith opened the scoring in the 26th minute for Portland while rookie Reilyn Turner doubled the lead in the 54th minute. Midfielder Makenzy Doniak was taken down in the box in the 64th minute before Sánchez converted her first Wave FC penalty kick. Just 90 seconds later, forward Delphine Cascarino beat two Portland defenders on the end line and sent a perfectly placed cross to Sánchez who towered over her defender and struck it with her head, powering the shot past Portland goalkeeper Shelby Hogan. San Diego earned their second penalty of the evening in the 85th minute when forward Amirah Ali took a shot that hit the hand of a Portland defender. The Mexican international stepped up again and went to the same spot to beat Hogan for a hat-trick.
Last Time Out
In San Diego’s last regular season match, the team fell 1-0 to the Chicago Red Stars on Sept. 21 at SeatGeek Stadium. The Wave outshot (28-9) and out-possessed (63.2%-36.8%) Chicago throughout the match but the Red Stars earned their game winning goal in the 12th minute by way of Brazilian forward Ludmilla.
Portland is coming off a 2-2 draw with Angel City on Sept. 23 from Los Angeles. The Thorns conceded the first goal in the ninth minute of play but went on to equalize in the 49th minute when forward Morgan Weaver slotted a first-time shot past goalkeeper Didi Haracic. 19-year-old Olivia Moultrie captured the lead for Portland later in the second half when she found space in the box to bring the ball down with her body and fire a shot to the near post. Midfielder Clare Emslie found the equalizer for Los Angeles in the 76th minute for the clubs to split the points.
Players to Watch
Nine of the last 13 goals in all competitions for the Wave have involved San Diego’s Maria…