San Diego Wave end undefeated streak with 2-1 loss against Seattle Reign

San Diego Wave striker, Adriana Leon moves the ball up the pitch. Leon missed a clear opportunity to score in the the 22nd minute. (Photo Credit: San Diego Wave FC)

Seattle continued its dominant reign over San Diego Wave, defeating San Diego Wave FC 2-1 and earned another victory at Snapdragon Stadium.

The Reign have dominated San Diego historically, knocking them out of the NWSL playoffs in 2023 and now hold 9W-1L-2D record across all competitions against the Wave. 

“It certainly feels like we lost the match, which we also did,” head coach Jonas Edievall said after the loss. “We have plenty of things with our own performance that we can see where we can be better in. 

“‘Could we have scored more goals on the chances we have?’ Yeah, possibly we could have, but there were also many other aspects of the game that I think we could have done better in.”

San Diego was the better team in the first half by creating more chances and dominating possession while limiting Seattle to zero shots, but were unable to convert any of the three shots into a goal. 

Adriana Leon had the best opportunity of the half around the 22nd minute in front of the goal, but had a poor touch on the ball with her left foot sending it wide of the net leaving it scoreless. 

The Reign got on the board first in the 67th minute following a stoppage in play after Perle Morroni went down due to a hard tackle. The referee did not call a foul and minutes later the Reign’s pressure paid off.  

Seattle moved the ball all around the attacking third before Sally Menti had a chance far outside the 18-yard box. She unleashed a shot with her right foot that sped past Wave defenders and curled to the bottom corner past an outstretched Kailen Sheridan to make it 1-0. 

María Sánchez substituted on for Kimmi Ascanio in the 72nd minute and made an impact within a couple minutes with strong pressure down the left wing which she crossed ultimately ending in a corner kick. Sánchez took the kick herself and sent it to the near post for a running Delphine Cascarino who headed it in to equalize at 1-1. 

The Wave attempted to keep the momentum going, and nearly had a goal in the 77th minute. Cascarino brought the ball into the box and unleashed a strike with her right foot that the goalkeeper pushed into the top post. 

The shot even fooled stadium operations who initially let out celebratory smoke behind the goals. 

Seattle eventually slowed the match to their pace and took advantage of a moment in transition in the 88th minute. Reign forward Emeri Adames moved the ball between herself and Jess Fishlock. 

The run by the opposition caught Wave center back, Kennedy Wesley, on her back foot. Just as Adames entered the 18-yard box she crushed the ball with her right foot into the top corner to make it 2-1. Around the 88th minute Seattle ran the ball down the field in a moment of transition

The officials awarded seven minutes of stoppage time, but the Reign iced the match with good defending and limiting any quality chances by San Diego. 

The Wave play their next match on the road against the 12th place Houston Dash on Friday, June 13.