It’s been a long time since the full team last played together on June 24 against the OL Reign. The time since then included four losses and a stretch of nine consecutive games without a win before they won back-to-back games on August 19 and 25 against NJ/NY Gotham FC and Orlando Pride.

Wave’s newly-signed forward and Irish national team player Kyra Carusa trained alongside forward Sofia Jakobsson and midfielder Emily van Egmond for the first time this week at Wave’s training facility as they returned from their third-place game appearances. Jakobsson’s Sweden returned with a bronze medal over Van Egmond’s Australia.

Both Jakobsson and Van Egmond will be available for the Sunday match against the Houston Dash, Casey Stoney told media on Friday.

The team struggled mightily without their World Cup players, but won two straight since Alex Morgan and Naomi Girma re-joined the squad for the August 19 match against NJ/NY Gotham FC. They went on to win on the road against Orlando Pride on August 25, their first win on the road since June 4 against Gotham.

“I think they've shown a lot of character. We went through a really tough period where we didn't win, and we hadn't been through that before, and I thought they stuck together as a team. They wanted to solve problems as a collective and showed resilience, and I think that part of that difficult part of the season will hold us in good stead towards the end of the season,” Stoney said.

​​Now the full squad, except for midfielder Kristen McNabb who remains out with an injury, returns against the Houston Dash on Sunday, September 3.

It’s the final stretch for the Wave as they look to finish better than last year’s team that went to the semifinals after becoming the first expansion team to make the playoffs, let alone host a home playoff game.