San Diego Wave was looking for their seventh straight game without a loss at Snapdragon Stadium, but instead was defeated 3-1 by Orlando Pride on Saturday, April 29, in a game mired by defensive errors.
“We started the brightest I’ve seen us start all season, we get one nil up, and then sloppy errors. Really sloppy errors and we let the opposition back into the game and we seemed to get rattled, and we couldn’t keep our quality,” head coach Casey Stoney said. “I’m not often disappointed, (but) I’m disappointed tonight, really disappointed.”
The first 20 minutes were great by the Wave dominating in possession and dictating the pace of the matchup leading to an early goal by forward Jaedyn Shaw. The 18-year-old from the center of the box received a great cross from Makenzy Doniak that she calmly put in to take the lead in the 12th minute.
The momentum remained in the Wave’s favor until the team got too comfortable, according to Stoney, resulting in multiple defensive errors. The first came in the 25th minute as Naomi Girma attempted to play a ball back to goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. Girma sent the pass too far away from Sheridan forcing her to save the pass from going inside the goal leading to two corner kicks. Sheridan punched the first one out of play, but the second was headed in by Orlando’s Megan Montefusco to equalize.
The second goal for Orlando occurred in the 42nd minute with a great headed goal by Haley McCutcheon. McCutcheon was unmarked by Wave’s defense, allowing her to run into free space alone to win the header that she floated over Sheridan to take the 2-1 lead before the end of the first half.
The first five minutes of the second half looked better for the Wave with offensive chances, but the team could not finish.
In the 69th minute, a disorganized defensive shape by the Wave gave room to Orlando’s forwards to penetrate the final third. Adriana Leal da Silva got a pass very close to the goal and sent the ball past Girma and Sheridan to make it 3-1.
The true highlight of the match came in the 72nd minute when Stoney put on 15-year-old Melanie Barcenas for her professional debut with her hometown team. Stoney said she wanted to bring more quality and creativity on the ball and decided Barcenas could bring that. She became the youngest player ever in the NWSL with her debut.
Every touch Barcenas had was exciting as she moved the ball well attempting many moves to trick defenders. Stoney said that she was proud of Barcenas’ debut and would work with her on holding onto the ball for too long after beating a defender instead of delivering it.
The loss is their first home loss since Orlando last beat them on August 13, 2022. It also marks the first time the Wave lost at Snapdragon Stadium.
San Diego will play next week at 10 a.m. in a nationally televised game on CBS against the Washington Spirit to start three straight games on the road. The club will not play at home until May 26, against the 2022 NWSL champion Portland Thorns.