Landon Donovan’s Wave are in a tough spot and time is starting to run out.
Following Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Angel City, they’re four points back of a playoff spot and three teams to chase.
Only making it worse, they’re also onto their third coach of the season, learning a new system which will take time. Time they do not have if they want to get back to the playoffs, which they’ve done in each of its first two seasons.
“Judge the performance, not the result,” Donovan opened his post match press conference in a throwback to his Loyal days. “The problem is we need results now because we’re at the point of the season we’re in so it hurts to not get anything out of the game.”
Donovan continued: “But there’s so much that they’re gonna learn from feeling this. Things they did well, things they didn’t do well and we’re gonna grow a lot from a game like this. Now ideally, you do it when you win but we, you know, kind of gave away two sloppy goals and that ended up hurting us.”
19-year-old phenom Alyssa Thompson escaped through the Wave’s back line in the 20th minute where she took full advantage of a one-on-one chance with Kailen Sheridan.
The poise. The finish.
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 24, 2024
Alyssa Thompson is a serious talent! pic.twitter.com/rPbsz6EVvx
And then in the 29th minute as Sheridan ran back to the goal from her position as a center back in Landon ball, Thompson saw an opportunity and the ball went right through Sheridan’s hands for the teenager’s first professional brace.
Alyssa Thompson notches her first-ever brace in all competitions in style 🤩 pic.twitter.com/zV6TIfKj0P
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 24, 2024
Sheridan’s struggles continued throughout the match. She made passes directly to Angel City forwards and got caught out of position on multiple occasions.
Abby Dahlkemper put the Wave on the board with a header from Maria Sanchez in the seventh minute of stoppage time in the second half, but Dahlkemper’s exit from the team following her requested trade to hometown club Bay FC leaves the Wave with another hole they hadn’t endured yet this season.
Abby Dahlkemper with a strong header! 💪 pic.twitter.com/paxhk5DPhU
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 24, 2024
STILL HOPE?
• All of this goes without mentioning the fact that they were without some of their best players.
Donovan emphasized that having the best defender in the world would've changed this game and the expectation is that Naomi Girma would be ready for the Wave’s next match on Sunday, Sept. 1 against the Portland Thorns.
Because of the Olympics and the Wave’s trip to Panama for the opening game of the Concacaf Champions Cup, Girma only re-joined the team on Friday and didn’t have enough time to learn before Saturday’s matchup and she wasn’t ready to be inserted straight into a new system.
They were without Jaedyn Shaw, Kyra Carusa, Savannah McCaskill, and Kaitlyn Torpey due to injuries. Each of them are expected to return soon and would be needed for a late run and into the playoffs.
They’re also getting additional help in their newest signing, French defender Perle Morroni, who has not yet joined the team.
• Delphine Cascarino instantly looked like the best player on the pitch for San Diego when she entered the match in the 61st minute and, in her first major opportunity, Cascarino put the Wave’s first shot on target in the 77th minute.
“Obviously wish we could have had her on the field for 90 (minutes), but she’s special and she changed the game significantly,” Donovan said.
She had two other chances, too, including a shot nearly on target that forced a play from Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haračić.
• Despite their struggles, they still find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture by just four points. Three teams to chase and nine matches to go.
Donovan pointed back to his time with the Loyal when he and the team knew they were where they wanted to be as a team: “I think we were 14 games in and we looked at each other and we’re like, okay, we’re there. The second year, because we had continuity, I think after nine games, we said, okay, we’re there. And then the third year, because of continuity from preseason, we were there. So it takes time.”
Well, one game down and just nine to go already.
It’s the most critical two months of the Wave’s existence thus far. As Donovan pointed out during his press conference, they’ll have to do in less than nine matches (probably more like four or five matches if they want to catch up) than what he did with the Loyal in 14 matches their inaugural season.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:
Chaos until the end in San Diego 👀
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 25, 2024
Highlights of @weareangelcity's victory over @sandiegowavefc presented by @Nationwide pic.twitter.com/FC2cOsTHxw