Wave “incredibly disappointing” in 2-1 defeat against Seattle Reign
Savannah McCaskill takes a corner kick in the Wave’s 2-1 defeat against Seattle Reign.(Photo courtesy of San Diego Wave FC)
The San Diego Wave coming off their best performances of the season last week reverted back to poor form in an away match against Seattle Reign where they lost 2-1 in the dying minutes despite holding a player advantage for more than 80 minutes.
“It doesn’t sit well with anybody. To have a game like this, to be on the road, the way it starts, the momentum you pick up in it, and the way we came off of last week, you want that contagious energy to continue,” said forward Kyra Carusa. “To see that is incredibly disappointing. I would say that, anyone would say that, and it makes these moments very difficult.”
The Wave started with a very different lineup as many of their star players were out with injuries including Alex Morgan, Sofia Jakobsson, Abby Dahlkemper, and Naomi Girma. Though the team came out fine and were able to take advantage of a disorganized moment early against the Reign who at the time were on a five-match losing streak and at the bottom of the National Women’s Soccer League standings.
The first goal came with a bit of luck for the Wave as Hanna Lundkvist drew a foul in the opposing half while attempting to defend. Lundkvist was following Tziarra King with some light grabbing before King tried to push her off by flailing her arms. King's hand then hit Lundkvist in the face and after a VAR review the referee deemed the foul worthy of a red card.
Then followed a free kick from the foul spot taken by defender Kennedy Wesley. The Wave were well prepared for the set piece and took advantage of the Reign who were disorganized because of the card. Kyra Carusa who takes Alex Morgan’s role as a center forward found the ball and put a shot on target that just hit the top post. The Reign defense was not well situated inside the box allowing Carusa to find the deflection and hit it in easily to make it 1-0.
“When you have such a strong magnet like Elyse (Bennett) to bring a lot of players into her you’re kind of just trying to work off of her a lot of the times,” Carusa said. Ball falls pretty well to me and as a nine, you love that. You want to hunt that ball and find those moments, so I’m happy that I was able to find that ball and tuck it away and put us up early.”
Head coach Casey Stoney said the team didn't “handle being up a player well at all” as they allowed the Reign to press high and nullify the player disadvantage when they should have been playing wide to tire out their opposition.
The next goal came in the 34th minute and was a major error by Kailen Sheridan in what was usually a typical play that the Wave employ building their attack from the back of the pitch. Sheridan passed the ball to her center back who passed it back to Sheridan after some light pressure from a Reign forward. On the reception Sheridan had a bad first touch allowing Reign forward Bethany Balcer to rush the ball, steal it away from Sheridan’s feet and score easily to equalize at 1-1.
The rest of the match can be categorized as a start and stop affair as the referee Danielle Chesky gave an NWSL record 10 cards — eight yellows and two red— over the course of the match.
“I don’t necessarily think it was a 10 card game if I'm honest,” Stoney said.”I thought there were a few yellows flying around that didn’t need to be given, but that’s the referee’s decision and I respect that.”
The final goal came in the 89th minute during a Reign set piece. Ji So-yun took the free kick and passed it to the near post to Veronica Latsko. Ironically, Latsko scored the Reign’s last goal against San Diego that ended the Wave’s season in the 2023 NWSL semifinals. She sent a cross just inside the boundaries of the pitch meant as a pass, but the ball floated to the back post over Kailen Sheridan’s head in the 47th minute.
Then again on Friday night Latsko stood at the near post and headed the cross from Ji toward the back post over Sheridan’s head to make it 2-1.
The Wave still had a chance to equalize with nine minutes of stoppage time because of the many cards given by the referee, but were unsuccessful. They had a chance late with multiple set pieces opportunities in the opponent’s final third, but couldn’t convert any chances.
Instead during the final moment of the match the Wave earned a red card. It was a corner kick set piece for the Wave, and defender Kristen McNabb in an attempt to both jump for the ball and hold Jess Fishlock player down, seemingly punched Fishlock in the face. After a long VAR review the referee gave McNabb a red card, thus suspending her for the team’s next match shortly before blowing the final whistle for a final score of 2-1.
The Wave must have the “memory of a goldfish,” said Kyra Carusa as they have two more home matches in the next week against the expansion team, Utah Royals on Wednesday, May 8, and reigning 2023 NWSL champions Gotham FC on Sunday, May 12.
