Preview: Spirit travels west, continues to eye first place on NWSL table
San Diego, Calif. (08/30/2024) – The Washington Spirit will face San Diego Wave FC on Sunday in the final regular season matchup between the sides this year. The match begins at 8 p.m. EDT at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California and will be broadcast on NWSL+ and Paramount+, as well as locally on Monumental Sports Network.
The Spirit
The Spirit enters Sunday’s match against San Diego Wave FC off the heels of arguably its most dominant performance of the season. Despite more than a month between regular season matches, the Spirit easily handled the then-#2 ranked Kansas City Current, 4-1. The Spirit’s four goals are tied for the team’s most scored in a game this season.
All six of the Spirit’s Olympians appeared in the match, with five making starts. All six players made a massive impact, including Leicy Santos, who became the fifth player in NWSL history to record a goal and an assist in their debut. Rosemonde Kouassi also made their NWSL regular season debut.
Paige Metayer started the scoring blitz, making a run of over 60 yards to net the icebreaker. She later added an assist. This marks the first time the Spirit has ever had two players with a goal and assist in the same match.
Star forward Trinity Rodman also had her fingerprints on the match in her return from Paris. She scored the Spirit’s third goal, marking her sixth goal of the season. The goal brought her to ten total goal contributions on the season (six goals and four assists), becoming the third player in NWSL history to record multiple seasons with 10+ goal contributions before turning 23. She joins NWSL icons and former MVPs Sam Kerr and Sophia Smith.
Finally, Croix Bethune made history when she set up Ouleye Sarr’s eighth goal of the season. Bethune’s assist was her 10th of the season, tying Tobin Heath’s long-standing NWSL record for most assists in single season.
The Spirit will look to carry this momentum against San Diego, a team that has taken a dip on the table as of late. Wave FC has lost four of its last five matches and has only scored 13 goals through 17 matches. That said, road matches versus San Diego have been a struggle for the Spirit in its small, two-year sample size. In sharp contrast to its undefeated home record (2-0-1) against the Wave, the Spirit has picked up only one point in two matches at San Diego.
Although Wave FC is positioned toward the bottom of the NWSL table, its defense—led by Olympic gold medalist Naomi Girma—has conceded only 19 goals this season, the same number as the Spirit.
Fans should keep an eye out for Esme Morgan. The English international officially joined the Spirit in July following an announced transfer from Manchester City in June. Morgan has not yet debuted for the Spirit.
Finally, pay attention to the Spirit’s back line. Last week, center back duo Annaïg Butel and Tara McKeown effectively neutralized one of the world’s best strikers and current NWSL Golden Boot leader Temwa Chawinga. The same will need to be done for dynamic forwards Alex Morgan and Jaedyn Shaw.
Following this match, the Spirit returns home for a matchup against Portland Thorns FC. The match will kick off at 12:30 p.m. EDT and features a gold medal celebration to honor the Spirit’s four U.S. Olympians, as well as Sam Coffey and Sophia Smith from Thorns FC.
The Opposition
The Wave fell to Angel City FC, 1-2, in its most recent match. Angel City’s Alyssa Thompson scored a brace within the first 30 minutes of the match, a feat that proved too much to overcome for San Diego. Captain Abby Dahlkemper netted a goal — her first since 2023 — in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time.
Currently, the Wave sits at 11th place on the NWSL table with a 3-8-6 record (15 points). The team is tied with Seattle Reign FC, Houston Dash, and Utah Royals FC for the fewest wins (3) in the NWSL. Only three points separate the Wave and last-place Utah Royals FC.
While the Wave’s struggles have seemingly crept up on the team as of late, this has been a long-standing issue. The team’s last victory came all the way back on April 27 of this year, more than four months ago.
- In its most recent matchup against the Spirit, the Wave drew 1-1 at Audi Field. The result sullied the Spirit’s perfect 2-0-0 record against the Wave at Audi Field.
The match, played in front of a sold-out, record-breaking crowd of 19,897, was thrilling from wire to wire. Bethune capped off the match with an equalizer just before the final whistle blew. Fans may recall Bethune’s iconic dice-rolling celebration following the goal.
Earlier this month, Wave FC announced that U.S. soccer legend Landon Donovan would serve in the interim head coach role through the end of the 2024 season. Donovan replaces Paul Buckle who served as the previous interim.
Donovan, a San Diego local, was formerly the Executive Vice President of Soccer Operations for San Diego Loyal SC, following three years as the first-ever head coach for the USL club. During his four-year tenure, he led the club to back-to-back-to-back playoff spots (2021, 2022, 2023).
Additionally, the Wave’s backline will be without Dahlkemper on Sunday. The team traded her to Bay FC in exchange for $50,000 in allocation money. A native Californian, Dahlkemper was the first player to join San Diego back in 2021.
Next, Wave FC faces the North Carolina Courage on Sunday, September 8 at 8 p.m. EDT.
Notables
- The Spirit owns a 2-1-2 all-time regular season record against San Diego Wave FC. At home, the Spirit is unbeaten (2-0-1), whereas on the road, the Spirit has yet to win a match (0-1-1). The all-time goal differential is +2 (11-9) in favor of the Spirit.
- Croix Bethune has four more assists than any other player in 2024. A four-assist gap would be the largest between the leader and second in any NWSL season.
- Washington’s last two regular season matches were a 3—0 road victory over Bay FC and a 4—1 home win against Kansas City. It’s the first time in team history that the Spirit have won consecutive NWSL games by at least three goals. The NWSL record is three-straight (Courage in 2018, FC Kansas City in 2015).
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