Wave fail to finish; Fall 1-0 against Chicago Red stars

San Diego Wave FC played their third match in seven days against the Chicago Red Stars to a 1-0 defeat, despite creating many chances and shooting more than any other match this season.  

“Sometimes you do everything right, and it doesn’t go your way,” said interim head coach Landon Donovan after the match.

The Wave outshot Chicago 28 to 9, 21 from inside the penalty box, and dominated the possession battle with 63%, but continued their struggles with finishing their chances. 

“They’ve not been used to being in the box with that many chances, so when you do,  I have to create training sessions that have them in the box, so they just get more comfortable hitting the target, and scoring goals,” Donovan said. “Now tonight they did everything right.”

The front line started with María Sánchez on the left, Mya Jones in the middle and Delphine Cascarino on the right coupled with Melanie Barcenas in the attacking midfielder role. Jones had one of the best opportunities of the night from just outside the goalkeeper’s box, but she shot it into the woodwork. 

Chicago’s goal came early in the match off the head of Brazilian international, Ludmila, in the 12th minute after a long cross from outside the box. Perle Morroni playing in the left back position could not maintain her defense allowing Ludmila to move into the ball’s path easily to make it 1-0. 

The poor finishing continued in the second half, despite the many chances created with substitutes like Amirah Ali, Elyse Bennett and Jaedyn Shaw joined the attack, but the same issues persisted. No one could find the back of the net.

The loss keeps the Wave in 12th place in the NWSL and six points away from the final playoff spot. with five matches to play. They will return to San Diego to play the Portland Thorns on Saturday, September, 21 at Snapdragon Stadium.