San Diego Wave beat the Portland Thorns 1-0 thanks to a great defensive effort by goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, and a forced own goal by Jaedyn Shaw for the Wave’s first ever victory in the UKG Challenge Cup.
The tournament last year was held prior to the start of the NWSL regular season and changed to a midseason tournament this year to a mixed reaction from Wave Head Coach Casey Stoney.
Since the first day of training camp, Stoney has had a lot to say about the league’s schedule that does not adhere to the FIFA calendar, unlike other top women’s leagues. Today, she voiced her frustration toward the scheduling by the NWSL with three matches in a week right after a FIFA international break. On top of that the league announced that the prize pool of the tournament would be doubled to 1 million dollars. Stoney said she was glad that the players would be making more money but criticized the league for the scheduling and timing of the tournament.
“I think it’s really poor for players, and it doesn’t give teams time to prep,” Stoney said. “The timing of the announcement was poor. You give out the schedule to pressurize coaches to play certain teams if I'm honest.
“If you want the cup to be something that everybody strives to win, don't stick it in the middle of the week after an international window and don’t expect coaches to be able to play everybody every game.”
She did however speak highly of the opportunity she gets to give more players minutes and the opportunity to prove themselves for a greater role on the team.
A prime example was Sierra Enge, who got high praise for her versatility from Stoney following the match. The San Diego native and first round draft pick who made her professional debut starting at center back and held Portland scoreless alongside defender Kaleigh Riehl. She also moved to defensive midfield for the second half as her former Stanford teammate Naomi Girma came in for the center back position.
The Wave’s front line was not very successful in the first half sporting a different offense without starters Jaedyn Shaw, Amirah Ali and Alex Morgan. San Diego did not have many great chances and only made two shots in the first half.
Stoney said she wasn’t pleased with the start to the second half. Though a goal came anyway in the 63rd minute with a forced own goal by Jaedyn Shaw who sent a bullet toward the far side of the goal that deflected off the thigh of Meaghan Nally to make it 1-0.
San Diego’s next Challenge Cup match will be on May 31, against OL Reign in group B that also features Angel City FC. San Diego will play their next NWSL regular season match against Angel City FC for 2023 first round of the ‘chanclasico’ on Sunday, April 23, at 5 p.m. in Los Angeles, California, at BMO Stadium.