San Diego Wave FC will open the club’s 26-game schedule at home against the Kansas City Current at 7 p.m. March 23 at Snapdragon Stadium.
The team will begin its third season as part of the National Women’s Soccer League with hopes of defending their 2023 NWSL Shield and returning to the playoffs for the third straight year.
The Wave kicked off their preseason training Jan. 29 at the Del Mar Polo Field, days after revealing their 2024 schedule.
The team has three preseason matches in the lead up to the NWSL Challenge Cup on March 15 against Gotham FC.
First up is a closed door scrimmage against UCLA, the 2023 Pac-12 champions, on Saturday. Then the Wave will take part in the Coachella Valley Invitational, playing Bay FC on Feb. 20 and the Portland Thorns on Feb. 24.
“So what can we achieve in year three?” head coach Casey Stoney asked. “I think we have to keep pushing our standards, evolving the way we play and seeing the new players come in, the connections that they can build, that’s really exciting to me as a coach.”
The regular season, which concludes Nov. 3, includes two Wednesday matches, one Thursday match, six Friday matches, 11 Saturday matches and four Sunday matches.
San Diego will host the most home matches in September, taking on the Washington Spirit (Sept. 1), North Carolina Courage (Sept. 8) and Portland Thorns (Sept. 28).
As part of the league’s expanded postseason format, eight clubs will qualify for the quarterfinal round taking place the weekend of Nov. 9-10. The semifinal round kicks off the weekend of Nov. 16-17, ahead of the NWSL Championship on Nov. 23.
Meanwhile, in roster news, the Wave acquired defender Hanna Lundkvist, 21, from Atlético de Madrid of Liga F in exchange for an undisclosed fee. The Swedish international joins the Wave on a one-year contract with mutual option for the 2025 season.
The club also acquired $150,000 in Allocation Money from Racing Louisville in exchange for midfielder Taylor Kornieck, 25, who notched 37 regular season appearances for San Diego through two seasons.
In addition, midfielder Kelsey Turnbow announced her retirement last month after two years with the Wave. She appeared in 40 matches, with 23 starts across all competitions, while earning four assists.
Turnbow, 24, also played at the University of Santa Clara (2017-21), where she helped the Broncos win the 2020 NCAA Women’s Division I Championship.
