San Diego Wave Fútbol Club lost by the largest margin of defeat in club history in a 0-3 rout against OL Reign on Wednesday night at Snapdragon Stadium.
The first goal came in the 29th minute as OL Reign pushed down the left side of the field. Tziarra King of OL Reign placed a cross in front of four Wave defenders toward the far post for a lone unmarked Ryanne Brown to take the lead.
The rest of the first half did not look strong offensively for either side, but especially the Wave only managing to shoot the ball twice in the first half.
Halftime adjustments and substitutions were ineffective even with the addititons of Sofia Jakobsson and Naomi Girma which Casey Stoney took the blame for.
“We went chasing a little bit, and left big gaps. Something that I need to look at as a coach is information at halftime, information that I give them. ‘Did that affect the changes, is that what impacted the gaps?’” Stoney said.
The second goal came in the 54th minute as the Canadian international, Jordyn Huitema ran the ball into the box beating Madison Pogarch to go one on one with Girma, but by that point she was nearly inside the goal box. Huitema sent a cross into a very dangerous position where it deflected off of two Wave defenders right onto the goal line. Olivia Athens ran in and tapped it in to make it 2-0.
Then just 7 minutes later OL Reign added on to their total as Tziarra King made a similar run down the left side of the field. She put a great cross at the feet of Huitema who smashed it in for the final score of 3-0.
On a positive note, the NWSL Challenge Cup offers Casey Stoney the opportunity to give players who are traditionally on the bench more playing time. Two players debuted for the club for the first time, goalkeeper Shae Yanez and midfielder Giovanna DeMarco, who both played the entire match.
Stoney also played Kristen McNabb as a center back instead of her traditional left back position as she may need to move to the middle when star defender Naomi Girma is away with the USWNT the FIFA World Cup.
Mia Gyau offered Stoney a different look at the right back position and played well today, but faced Tziarra King of OL Reign who are familiar with each other going back to their college careers in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
King won the night as she managed to notch two great crosses that were assists.
“She’s just tough to defend because she is so quick because she is moving off the ball,” Gyau said. “It’s definitely a challenge, but it’s nice to have a battle.”
San Diego play their next match away as the team travels to the east coast to take on NY/NJ Gotham FC on Sunday, June 4. Their next home match will take place on June 17 against rival southern California club Angel City FC with both upper decks open.