San Diego Wave FC bounced back from two straight home losses with a solid 3-1 team victory against a fellow team at the top of the table in Houston Dash who they are now level with on the table with 28 points and only five matches left in the NWSL regular season.
Houston scored the first goal of the night in the ninth minute after a deflection by a Wave defender inside the box was passed backward by Dash’s Natalie Jacobs to Ebony Salmon who quickly cut right and sent it in for a goal.
SD Wave players were immediately upset over a no foul call inside the box as Alex Morgan appeared to be tripped up during her attempt to clear the ball.
“We deserved a bit of luck tonight and I'm just so pleased for the players because their performance didn’t deserve a defeat last week and didn’t deserve one this week,” head coach Casey Stoney said of the luck when it comes to officiating following what she described as poor officiating in the past two matches.
Wave FC made sure to counter quickly with an attack of their own applying lots of pressure at the top of the box. The attack was started when a ball was sent deep into the box for Taylor Kornieck. As Kornieck was attempting to control the ball three Houston defenders rushed to stuff the attack allowing an open Alex Morgan to easily receive a pass that was sent into the goal on the far side of the goalkeeper.
“I was just happy to get on the scoresheet after we went down 1-0,” forward Alex Morgan said. “When we got that goal back it was a little bit of a relief because last game we just couldn’t get one in.”
The rest of the first half was even where there were not many opportunities on either side thanks to solid defending.
The next goal did not come until the 67th minute in a patient attacking play by San Diego. Morgan received a cross on the far side of the box with both teams inside the box and with no clear shot on goal she sent the ball out to defender Kaleigh Riehl who placed a great pass just outside the post for midfielder Makenzy Doniack to cross to Amirah Ali who tapped it in with her right foot for the 2-1 lead.
Houston had a very near chance to equalize in the 87th minute of the match during a set piece after a deflection by goalkeeper Carly Telford into open space where no Houston player got good possession of the ball allowing it to slowly roll toward the goalpost before it was cleared.
In response Sofia Jakobsson scored her first goal in the NWSL with a dagger in the 90th minute after a great pass from midfielder Makenzy Doniak for Jakobsson receiving the ball just inside the box for a great drive on the far side of the goalkeeper for a final score of 3-1.
Wave FC won’t have another home match until Sept. 17 as they officially make the move to the newly constructed Snapdragon Stadium. Though their upcoming schedule is still tough as they will play away against Portland Thorns FC who is at the top of the NWSL table, equal in points with San Diego but the largest goal differential in the league.
“They just are a team that has not dropped a lot of points this entire season, they don't have many flaws,” Morgan said. “This is the exact game that you would want at this moment, playing someone who is level with you at the top of the table.”