Playing at a packed stadium resounding with young girls’ cheers, the San Diego Wave FC made its first home appearance Saturday — falling short in a preseason game.
The Portland Thorns prevailed in the 1-0 loss in the National Women’s Soccer League Challenge Cup match at sold-out Torero Stadium at the University of San Diego. The announced attendance was 6,000.
“For a performance like that, I’m extremely proud of my players,” said San Diego coach Casey Stoney. “I’m absolutely disappointed for them because they deserve more at the end of the game.”
Standout saves were made by Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. But a goal by Portland’s Sofia Smith handed Stoney’s squad its first ever loss.
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Smith scored five minutes into the match off a cross by Natalia Kuikka from left to right.
The Wave is now 0-1-1 with a point in the Challenge Cup. It was coming off a 1-1 tie against Angel City FC where it found the equalizer late in the match.
Spurned on by second-half subs, Wave tried to rally and do the same against Portland after spending most of the second half pressuring by moving up its lines.
It had a handful of chances coming from Alex Morgan, who made her first start with SD Wave, and second half substitute Amirah Ali.
Whenever Wave players advanced the ball to their side of the pitch, the crowd erupted in cheering.
Fans started “the wave” in the second half of the match, and fans took the cheer around the stadium several times.
Perhaps the clearest chance came when Ali got a head on a corner kick and sent it inches away from the right post in the 68th minute.
Morgan had her chance in the 51st when she sent a left-footed shot from left to right, but it went straight into the Portland goalkeeper’s hands.
Abby Smith was well positioned to block Morgan’s angle.
Said Wave forward Amirah Ali: “I think we’ve grown a lot since the first game, but we know that we can definitely turn it up so much more.
“We’re working on it so much in practice and we just want to keep implementing it in the game. We’re just proud of our performance but know we can do better.”
Morgan had other opportunities earlier in the match. She created a scoring opportunity in the 19th minute when she slid after a low rolling cross by Katie Johnson, but Morgan couldn’t clearly connect to get to it past Abby Smith at her line.
Johnson suffered a concussion in the first half. Stoney said she was being watched carefully, and “she seems fine so far.”
Morgan and the Wave continued to try with the attack. She had another chance when she fired a shot from just inside the penalty box, but Abby Smith was there again to intercept the play.
Morgan left the game at the 69th minute.
Also making standout saves during the match was Sheridan. She blocked shots from her knees, diving to her right, to her left and stopped dangerous blasts with her chest.
Portland’s Smith nearly scored again in the 22nd minute but Sheridan had to extend both arms above and behind her head to the right to trap the ball and end the threat.
Sheridan was tested once again nine minutes later when Hina Sugita fired a shot from about 25 yards out, forcing the Wave goalkeeper to dive to her right and make the stop. Sheridan had another key save late in the first half as she blocked a shot on her knees.
“I just think we need to believe in ourselves a bit more,” Stoney said. “You know, I think when we go one nil down, we have a bit more like we’ve got nothing to lose. We believe and relax a bit more. So we need to start like that.”
Wave goalkeeper Sheridan lauded the team’s effort, “but it’s definitely not good enough. We expect more from ourselves and will see that next week for sure.”
About the energy in the stadium Sheridan said, “We need San Diego spirit with us. “I think this city is so special. As much as we give everything, we want the city to be a part of this. We know that is going to hurt other teams coming here.”
Wave FC now shifts focus to its third match, another home match. This time, it will host Angel City FC at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 2.
