The dream of bringing an NWSL championship to America’s Finest City is over. At least for this year.

San Diego Wave FC, which had never lost to the Utah Royals in franchise history, did exactly that on Friday, going down 1-0 at Snapdragon Stadium Friday night during the first round of the NWSL playoffs.

This is the second straight year that San Diego has been eliminated in the quarterfinals, after not making the playoffs in 2024.

“Congratulations to Utah,” head coach Jonas Eidevall said following the match, explaining that “the first goal (by Utah) made it difficult for us.”

His team, he said, felt the urgency “to score a goal and lost (our) patience. We should have created more (chances) in the second half.

“We’re obviously very disappointed with the result,” he continued. “This was not the ending that we had envisioned for the season. It hurts a lot. We need to use this as fuel for next season.”

He added, though, “I refuse to let this game define our season. Our season has been a beautiful season. Our players deserve to be celebrated for it.”

The first and only goal came during the 30th minute, when Royals forward Kiana Palacios nailed a left-footed shot that found the back of the net, making the score 1-0. It was her fifth goal of the season as well as the first-ever playoff goal in Royals history.

Utah’s upset victory, which came before an announced crowd of 12,638, was unlikely for many reasons.

First, the Royals had just played at Gotham FC on Sunday, then had to travel to Southern California a few days later.

Second, the Wave were the second seed and had defeated Utah twice during the regular season. The Wave’s first victory of the year was a 2-1 road win against the Royals in March. San Diego then beat the Royals 4-2 at Snapdragon Stadium in August.

Third, the Royals had backed into the playoffs on a bad streak: Winless in their last four regular season games, with two losses and two draws.

Until Friday, the Wave had never lost to the Royals in their history, going 6-0 against them between May 2024 and August 2026. Also, before Friday, San Diego had lost just one match since Aug. 14.

“It just came down to the margins and the details, and it just didn’t go our way,” Wave center back and team co-captain Kennedy Wesley said of her team’s performance in Friday’s match. “At the end of the day, it comes down to the details and the margins and that’s where we fell short.

“We’re a young team,” she said, adding that the team could have been better at finishing scoring opportunities.

In the second half, with time ticking and the game looking increasingly out of reach, Eidevall went to his bench multiple times to try to find some offense and keep Utah from scoring again.

During the 60th minute, attacking forward Ludmila, a scoring specialist, replaced rookie midfielder Lia Godfrey. Then, during the 78th minute, Laurina Fazer and Barbara Bonansea replaced Laila Harbert and Melanie Barcenas, respectively.

“Physically, I think it was the right time to take (Barcenas) out,” Eidevall explained. “She developed a knock that inhibited her movement.”

And in the 87th minute, Tatum Wynalda came in for Mimi Van Zanten. None of the moves worked however, as Utah’s strong second half defense stifled San Diego’s offense. In total, San Diego had five shots on goal – Utah had just two – but Royals goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn nabbed them all easily.

“At the end of the day, we fell short,” co-captain midfielder Kenza Dali said during the post-match press conference, where she had a noticeable limp. “They were better than us. Congratulations to them, they won tonight.”

Notes: Up next, the 2027 NWSL season kicks off on Feb. 11, 2027, during Super Bowl weekend. Individual team schedules are expected to be released in the coming weeks and will include a break from June 24 through July 25 for the Women’s World Cup.