Wave draw 1-1 against Washington Spirit
San Diego Wave FC defender Kristen McNabb celebrates her equalizing goal against Washington Spirit. (Photo courtesy of San Diego Wave FC)
San Diego Wave FC played the Washington Spirit, the second ranked team in the NWSL, to a 1-1 draw at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday in front of an announced crowd of 23,541 fans.
The draw marked the first time they didn’t lose at Snapdragon Stadium since June 7, and extended their NWSL winless streak to 11.
The Wave dominated in possession for the first half, but the Spirit benefited from a defensive miscue by the Wave in the 30th minute.
Washington’s Ouleymata Sarr received a through ball behind the Wave backline sending them all rushing back to defend. Naomi Girma kept Sarr from shooting, but allowed her to send in a dangerous cross into the penalty area. By then the rest of the backline stood ready to defend and Wave center back Kennedy Wesley attempted to clear the ball, but Kristen McNabb had also dropped back to defend and accidentally blocked Wesley’s clearance. The ball deflected right into the goal making it 1-0.
McNabb made up for it not too long after.
In a very similar play to the Wave’s best chances in their last match, Delphine Cascarino displayed excellent individual skill to bring the ball into the final third. Cascarino sent a pass to the outside for Christen Westphal that she attempted to cross, but was blocked for a corner kick.
María Sánchez took the set piece, and much like last match sent in a well placed ball toward the center of the goal box, only this time it found the foot of Kristen McNabb who took one touch then sent it in with her left foot to make it 1-1.
“An own goal is never ideal, so the best way to counteract that is by scoring, so I was pretty pumped,” said McNabb.
The rest of the half saw chances on both sides with all the makings of a late game-winner for either side as is usual in the NWSL, but neither scored in the eight minutes of stoppage time leaving both teams with a point at the end.
“I am unbelievably proud of how far they’ve come. That’s a really good group of players they played against,” Donovan said. “Our buildout was excellent, our pressing was much better than last week, we created a lot of solid opportunities, so the progress has been phenomenal. I really wanted them to win the game, because they deserve it now and it’s unfortunate the way we conceded the goal, but I’m really happy with where the group’s at.”
The Wave remain near the bottom of the table in 12th place out of 14 teams with only eight matches left in the regular season. Four of the matches will be away and four will be at home including their next match on Sunday, September 8, against the fifth-ranked North Carolina Courage.
