Goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan records 40th NWSL career shutout in 0-0 tie with Spirit

Entering Sunday night’s game, the past three matches between the San Diego Wave and Washington Spirit had each ended in a draw. And after Sunday’s match, that streak is still alive, as the two sides again played to a tie at Snapdragon Stadium, with Goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan notching her 40th career shutout.

The sides had played to draws in each of their past three meetings, two 1-1 draws last season and a 2-2 draw in July 2023. Washington still has never won in San Diego, going 0-1-3 in the city since Wave FC’s inception in 2022.

Sunday’s game was a great match for fans of defense, as each side managed to play the other very tightly over the course of 90 minutes. However, San Diego had the statistical advantage, having controlled possession of the ball for 57% of the match and taking six shots on goal, twice as many as Washington.

By halftime, each side had attempted two shots on goal and not succeeding. Other than that, the Wave ruled the possession battle in the half, maintaining the ball 56% of the time, while also taking a total of 10 shots and five corner kicks during the initial 45 minutes, compared with five and two for the Spirit, respectively.

“I think that it was a good performance by us, but we were missing the final touch today,” Wave head coach Jonas Eidevall said during the post-match press conference. “(I’m) a little disappointed in the final result, because I think we were the better team.”

The Spirit entered the match with a 5-1-0 road record, the best in the NWSL this season. However, the team was missing several key players against San Diego due to injury, including star forward Trinity Rodman, midfielder Leicy Santos and striker Ashley Hatch.

Also, Washington Spirit Head Coach Jonatan Giráldez did not travel with the team for the match against San Diego. He remained in the Washington. D.C.. area to be with his partner Olaia as they awaited the arrival of their second child. In his absence, assistant coach Adrián González coached the team.

But despite those obstacles, Washington still managed to prevent a nearly full-strength San Diego team from scoring, much less dominating. The two sides play again Oct. 5 in Washington, D.C.

Despite the draw, San Diego still sits in third place in the NWSL table, with a 7-3-3 record and 24 points, behind only the Kansas City Current (11 wins, 33 points) and Orlando Pride (8 wins, 25 points). Washington’s record is now 7-2-4. The team sits in fourth place, behind San Diego.

When asked to assess Sunday’s game and San Diego’s season thus far, Sheridan said there’s room for improvement.

“You haven’t seen the best of what we’re capable of,” she said after Sunday’s match. “I’m confident that the second half of the season will look a lot better.”

“I think it’s a good start (to the season, but) I want us to hate losing and love winning,” she added. “I think we’re capable of it.”

Next up for the Wave is a mandated league-wide break from June 23 through the end of July. San Diego then resumes play Aug. 2 in a road match against the North Carolina Courage, a team the Wave defeated 5-2 at Snapdragon Stadium on May 25.

The Wave’s next home match is against Angel City FC on Aug. 9. San Diego played its season-opening match against Angel City in Los Angeles on March 16; the two clubs battled to a 1-1 draw.

Notes: On Friday, the Wave announced that it has signed defender Nya Harrison and Jordan Fusco to new contracts through the end of the 2025 season. Harrison and Fusco were originally signed in March to short-term contracts that were set to expire at the end of this month.

Harrison, a San Diego native, joined the Wave from Stanford University and helped the Cardinal capture the Pac-12 championship in 2022. Fusco signed from Penn State University where in 2024, she started all 25 matches, scoring three goals, and had a team-leading 12 assists.