Soccer legend Landon Donovan was disappointed in the results of the first regular season NWSL match he coached Saturday afternoon at Snapdragon Stadium.
But he expressed optimism that his San Diego Wave players returning from the Olympics and those coming back from injury — along with training hard — will keep the team competitive.
Six San Diego players — on a roster of 26 — are out injured.
“There’s a process and structure by which we will be much better,” he said.
The Wave (3-8-6) fell 2-1 to Angel City (5-9-3) in a uncommon afternoon match.
Both sides had an equal number of saves (4) and shots (11), but it was the shots on target that spelled the difference. Two for 11th-place Wave and six for Angel City.
“I’m disappointed that I couldn’t help lead them to a point or a win today and that’s frustrating for me,” said the 42-year-old interim head coach, adding that he thought they deserved it after all of their hard work this week.
Donovan was chosen to lead the team for the rest of the season after Casey Stoney was dismissed and interim coach Paul Buckle had a limited assignment.
Donovan said he started players who were fit to play the whole match or part of it.
“It’s just getting (all players) fit,” he said. “A lot of them aren’t just right now and then getting them acclimated and then some came back from injury.”
Donovan repeated one of his sayings: Judge the performance, not the result.
He said he was proud of their efforts.
“The problem is, we need results,” Donovan said. “Now this point in the season it hurts to not get anything, but there’s so much that they’re going to learn from feeling these things… We’re going to grow a lot from a game like this.”
Nine games are left in the regular season.
Los Angeles opened the scoring in the 20th minute via forward Alyssa Thompson. The visitors doubled the score in the 29th minute when Thompson went on the attack and sent the ball just past diving goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. San Diego was able to pull one back in the dying minutes when defender Abby Dahlkemper headed the ball into the back of the net off a perfectly served free kick from Maria Sánchez.
It was defender Dahlkemper’s first goal since Aug. 23, 2023.
Dahlkemper told reporters how Sánchez passed her a “perfect ball,” she saw a good opening and headed it into the back of the net.
French international Delphine Cascarino made her debut for San Diego as a second-half substitute in the 62nd minute. She finished the day with three shots. The forward signed with the Wave on July 24. from Olympique Lyonnais.
Donovan said: “She’s special and she changed the game significantly so we’re excited to get her fit.”
San Diego local Melanie Barcenas earned her first ever regular-season start. The 16-year-old earned 62 minutes in the midfield. And Defender Kennedy Wesley earned her first regular-season start since May 17. The rookie from Southern California was out injured and returned Aug. 20.
And Defender Kennedy Wesley earned her first regular-season start since May 17. The rookie from Stanford (and Valley Christian High School in San Marcos) was out injured and returned on Aug. 20.
Asked about the difference in play between the first and second half, the coach felt the team was somewhat scared in the first 45 minutes but gained confidence after halftime.
“Part of it is giving them the faith and belief that they can do it,” Donovan said.
He was asked about the difference in this year’s team after the successes of the past two seasons. The Wave won the shield as top regular-season team last year.
Donovan pointed out the turnover in the club. About 11 players – nearly half — from last year’s squad are no longer on the team.
Following the match, the club honored its six Olympians – Cascarino (FRA), Kailen Sheridan (CAN), Kaitlyn Torpey (AUS) and Emily van Egmond (AUS), along with Team USA gold medalists Naomi Girma and Jaedyn Shaw.
Girma and Shaw didn’t play Saturday.
Next, San Diego hosts Washington Spirit at Snapdragon Stadium with kickoff slated for 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 1. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster and the match will be broadcast live on NWSL+ and streamed locally on FOX 5/KUSI.
