San Diego Wave snap winless streak in 3-2 victory over Utah Royals

San Diego Wave players celebrate Kenza Dali’s game-winning goal against the Utah Royals. (Photo credit: Wave FC)

San Diego Wave can now take a deep breath.

San Diego Wave FC broke a seven-match winless streak with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Utah Royals on the road.

“It’s massive,” Wave captain and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan said. “Some of the things that were going against us at first, going down a goal, the weather was wild, the delays, just a bunch of negativity that you can’t control. I think I‘m just really proud of how the team responded.

“We were all really intentional about our communication and how we were staying dialed in together, and I think that was massive in the last 10-15 minutes. That’s the real difference maker for us.”

The game started 50 minutes later than originally scheduled due to a lightning strike in the area during the team’s warmups. Both teams took shelter then returned after the lightning went away. Jonas Eidevall said the pitch tolerated the heavy rain well and did not change anything about how the team played.

The start of the match displayed one of the Wave’s biggest struggles in recent matches with inadequate defending, especially in one-on-one situations.

Utah was controlling the ball and moved into the Wave’s final third of the pitch when Janni Thomsen had a one-on-one opportunity on the right channel against Perle Morroni. The rest of the Wave defense was drifting further to the corner to stop a pass, but Morroni gave Thomsen too much space where Thomsen took a strong shot toward the far left post that bounced past Kailen Sheridan to make it 1-0.

Utah was unbeaten in their last eight matches prior to the game, but the Wave stuck to their identity on offense and defense.

Their first goal came in the 29th minute after a quick block by Hanna Lundkvist in the midfield along the right side landed perfectly for Delphine Cascarino against the run of play. Cascarino ran the ball through the middle of the pitch before passing it to Dudinha at the top of the penalty area.

Dudinha took one touch bringing it closer to the goal then sent a strong shot low and hard past the goalkeeper to equalize at 1-1.

The rest of the first half played out relatively evenly, but Wave had until the beginning of stoppage time, the Wave played an intense couple of minutes creating chances and earning a corner kick. Kenza Dali took the shot and sent it toward the near post for Kristen McNabb, but it went gust over her head. Instead the cross deflected perfectly off Kate Del Fava toward the far post for a goal making it 2-1 just before halftime.

The Wave made a few errors on the defensive end allowing the ball to stay in their final third longer than it should have before an eventual throw-in at the 54th minute into the penalty area. The Wave defense was bunched up in one area, and could not clear the ball cleanly.

Wave centerback Kennedy Wesley attempted to clear the ball, but it bounced off another player right in front of Mina Tanaka. Tanaka took the volley and made it easily to equalize at 2-2.

Neither side would be satisfied with a draw, and the Wave remained engaged offensively and scored a unlikely game-winner. It was reminiscent of the goal that lost them their match against the Washington Spirit only a week earlier.

The goal came in the 72nd minute at the feet of standout Wave midfielder Kenza Dali. Dali had the ball far from the goal in the midfield, but sent a long ball that seemed to look like a cross. The ball sailed high and the goalkeeper attempted to punch the ball over the top post, but the ball continued to sail and landed in the back corner to make it 3-2.

Dali said after the match on the broadcast of the game that she told one of her French teammates that she would try that shot having seen that type of unlikely goal in the NWSL a few times.

“It’s not easy, it’s not all just simple like, we were phenomenal today, or it’s nothing like that,” said Sheridan. “I think there’s been a lot of ugly moments for us and a lot of hard work that’s gone on, especially in training and in team room and in the locker room to fight back from what we’ve dug ourselves into. It’s not a simple road at all.”

The Wave play their next and final home match on October 18, against the Chicago Stars. A win in the match would clinch them a berth in the NWSL playoffs.